Code Geass: Path of Carnage
by grilledmonkey
Summary: Code Geass told with a more aggressive Zero as he faces off against new royals with their own custom Knightmares, with new allies starting with the thought dead former Knight of 6, and faces off against new & old Enemies who wield the power of Geass
1. Cruel Power

"yes your highness!" The special operations division killed themselves before his eyes. A single drop of blood falling against his cheek waking him from his trance.

'what have I done?' the single thought that manifested itself in his mind was not the one he expected. He was alive and his enemies were not. He should be ecstatic for this turn of events, yet here he had forced a dozen men to take their own lives. He stared at the corpses and let his thought mind organize the information in his head yet he couldn't help but turning his attention back to the dead soldiers around him.

To the outside observer his sigh could be mistaken for relief, but it was one of disappointment at such a foolish mistake."damn it, such a waste of resources"

Speaking to no one in particular he tried to organize his thoughts. "So what do we do now? Your surrounded by dead soldiers, unarmed, hunted by both sides, and your only weapons are your mind and an unknown power. "

He stared at the dead officer on the ground before him, allowing his head to tilt to one side as he thought out his next move. A few moments latter a smirk graced his lips as reached down to pull the officer's uniform from his body. Perhapses he had a few more resources then he first thought.

Walking among the bodies slowly the uniform came together. It took longer then he would of liked but it was difficult to piece a respectable uniform together from the blood soaked rags. But it was worth it, despite the fact it was a Britannian uniform, he had to admit he looked good.

Vanity aside the uniform would at least prevent the Britannia soldiers from attacking him. Although it wouldn't shield him from the terrorists moving through out the ghetto they would have fired upon him anyways because of the school uniform he was wearing; at the very least attempt to take him hostage. The fate of a hostage was never good when the military was involved, especially when there was numbers to place the blame on when the operation inevitably failed.

The pistol that came to rest at his waist was unexpectedly heavy, as if it bore the weight of the sins to come. With a final adjustment to the spare clips, his violet eyes cast one last glance about the warehouse before coming to rest upon the strange green haired woman that had died to save his life, but not before granting him the power to grant him vengeance.

He felt it before it registered with any of his other senses. Things were moving faster then he could have possibly hoped. Turning to face the approaching knightmare he waited for it to smash its way through the wall.

The debris shifted and fell from the frame's imposing form, with nothing more then a glance it was easy to figure out all the needed to know about the pilot.

He was pure blooded Britannian, but that was simple because only Britannians could pilot knightmares. Since it was a Sutherland the possibility of him being a member of the nobility was low. Nobility normally resisted front line combat in anything less then a squad command. There was always the chance that he was in fact a fallen noble who was reduced to a mere pilot but that was highly unlikely. He was probably a commoner with decent skills to merit the new mass produced frame and not the obsolete glaslow frame. The pilots next action would give away his identity and determine the next move should it be necessary.

"Soldier; Report, What happened to your squad?"

Arrogant, condescending, and demanding, he was diffidently a noble. And from his tone of entitlement he was a high ranking one, a fallen noble.

" Give me your knightmare." Lelouch gave the simple yet effective command as his geass flared and unleashed its power or at least it should have.

Jeremiah Gottwald found himself in an interesting position. The special forces division he was meant escort back to the mobile command center was very clearly dead, and the person responsible was standing directly in front of him. Well that was most likely the case but it was still possible the order he just received was a legitimate order and what he was about to do next would probably destroy his career, or what was left of it. Especially considering the uniform he wore.

"I said report! What happened to your squad!" Lelouch tried not to wince as the rebuke came from the frame in the form of a rifle burst over his head. Geass has limitation, and this was not a pleasant way discover one. If he survived he would have to experiment with it when he had the chance, but for now he would have to move carefully.

"I am Earl Arthur Weinberg, I have a priority message for his highness prince Clovis, one far more important than the fate of one insignificant squad"

An Earl?! Jeramiah would have winced within his cockpit had the man been a single title higher. As a margarve he would not have to worry about the social repercussions now all that remained was the man really who he claimed he was. If command could not confirm the report it would a simple matter the kill this man.

"….very well, I shall relay your report. Begin when ready."

The sweat started to bead on his brow as lelouch weighed his options. The most stressful moments of chess match against an unknown opponent were the opening moves, for they told everything about an opponent. How he responded to the next move would determine everything, was he a player? Or was he nothing more then a pawn?

"The message is of a sensitive nature, and for his highness' ears only, you do not have clearance. Again I order you to give me your knightmare." It was almost possible to hear the mans thoughts inside his frame. The frames slight movement would have gone unnoticed to more unskilled eyes. The _pawn_ was struggling with his own mind.

Should he get out of his knightmare or not , was it a trap by the terrorists, more importantly what was the risk to his career if he ignored the prince's personal soldiers? What was the reward for passing on the information? But there was only one option that was truly available to him. Right or wrong, the result would be far better then if he chose otherwise.

"very well, his highness's message takes priority"

Lelouch stared up at the cockpit from beneath the rim of his cap. It was becoming increasingly difficult to suppress his smirk while waiting for the pilot make the biggest mistake of his soon to be very short life. Taking the proffered hand lelouch pulled himself up to the cockpit and right next to the pilot.


	2. Players Ready

Lelouch allowed the smirk that he had been surprising to finally turn into a smile

Lelouch allowed the smirk that he had been surprising to finally turn into a smile. Things were going far more efficiently than he could have possibly hoped. From the safety of the Britannian's Sutherland it was possible to move across the battlefield completely unchallenged. The only thing that prevented this from being a total windfall was the way he had treated the machines former pilot. As the machine rolled threw the ghetto Lelouch played the events in the back of his mind one more time, perhaps that would calm him.

"Lelouch Vi Britannia commands you give me your Knightmare, then forget that you saw me here Orange." With nothing more then a gentle push the pilot tumbled to the ground below with a smile on his face. Scrambling to his feet the moment he struck the ground he snapped of a desperate salute.

"Yes! Your Majesty! My Frame is yours to command!"

It was hard to focus, something about the green haired fool just seemed to crawl underneath the skin. Was it the fact the had used "Your Majesty"? No he had proclaimed himself of the house of Britannia. Even that was mute point because Orange was ordered to forget what had happened.

Was that what was bothering him? The order to forget? True it would have been far simpler to have simply order Orange to kill himself after surrendering the Knightmare. Showing Orange mercy was what was bothering him, how pathetic.

WAIT!! Orange? The Knightmare screeched to a halt and turned in place facing back the direction from which it came from. Why was he calling him orange? Why was he showing mercy? Who the Hell was that pilot? Cursing his own foolishness he made his decision. He had to go back and face that pilot.

"Goddamn eleven! Why won't you just die?"

Well so much for that pilot. Lelouch could only assume that the outburst had come from the squad of Sutherlands backpedaling in front of him fleeing from the single red knightmare. The only hostile IFF displayed on the radar screen. For their lack of strategic skill the pilot must have exceptional piloting abilities to still be alive on this battlefield with her IFF operating. Sliding the frame away from the fight he watched the events unfold, and needless to say the pilot did not disappoint.

The fight was brought to its inevitable outcome in a few seconds of unbridled fury, and from that maelstrom came forth a single red knightmare. Unscratched and undamaged never still for more then an instant the machine surveyed the carnage confirming its kills before launching itself back into the fray. Hunting down the inept britannian pilots.

Having just seen her skills first Lelouch had to analyze the fight. This red head, this teenage girl was going to key to his future actions. Closing his eyes he leaned the side propping his head up with arm as if he were back home playing chess against himself. Opening his eyes he looked back out at the fight that was already over and watched as his new toy moved to tear apart his enemies.

The 5 Sutherlands retreated at full speed in a 1:3:1 formation, probably with the squad commander at the rear typical of Britannian tactics.

"_All men are not born equal!_"

Lelouch found it impossible to keep the scowl off of his face as emperors voice thundered in his mind. Regardless of the way he felt about britannias ideals there was something he had to be grateful for. Commanders of britanian units were always surrounded by their soldiers and never risked their own necks. It made them very predictable. The machine at the rear of the formation was the squad leader, and it seemed she was aware of the fact as well.

Closing his eyes once more he looked in to the past. The Glaslow came plummeting from above. Its slash Harkens tearing to the commanders cockpit as the machines bulk came crashing down on the center Sutherland with a tonfa strike. Two units down in a matter of seconds, but by her own actions she had surrounded herself with hostile units. That said great volumes about her personality.

What she did next said even more. She retreated back landing on the lead unit before the Harkens fully retracted, the sudden movement causing them to strike the rear of the flanking units cockpits stunning them for a fraction of a second, just long enough for them to fully retract ready to strike again.

Lelouch had to smile, the girl was aggressive. She had used her own retreat to attack and even went as far to use her self as bait; pausing on the lead frame just long enough for the others to recover and fire upon the space she just left the body of the lead frame.

While the Britannian's slaughtered their own the glaslow's slash harakens struck out crippling the final two machines.

She soared threw the air with a grace one would ever expect to see from a weapon of war, a strange beauty that could only be seen on the battlefield. Yet that could be because when she moved her Knightmare he did not see the machine but the pilot who made those moves moving threw the air. Once more back in the present he smiled, well who could blame him? She was rather attractive.

Pulling out his phone lelouch moved his machine into the remains of one of the ghetto's more damaged buildings and waited for the line to connect.

Miles away from the carnage of the shinjuku ghetto an servant answered a call from his young master.

"Roland, What does is the press saying about Shinjuku?" The man stood at attention even thou he knew full well that the master could not see him, yet it was a conditioned response to a command from the one he served.

"One moment," Turning to the table he reached out and snagged the remote quickly finding the desired report;" They state that a traffic jam is occurring in that area at the moment."

"Traffic jam? Are they saying why?"

"No they do not, seems they want to keep their actions as quiet as possible my lord."

"I see" The old man smiled he could almost hear the thoughts the raced threw his young masters head. "thank you Roland" and then the young master hung up with out an other world. Shaking his head his smile grew wider,_ 'that part of the young master will never change.'_

"was that nii-sama?" The man turned from the window to the source of the gentle voice. A young girl with light brown hair siting in a wheelchair, her maid right behind her gently pushing her to the doorway.

"yes Ojou-sama, that was master Lelouch, he just called that he shall be running late today but he plans to be home early enough to say goodnight."

The young girl seemed to pout at this news but the expression was short lived.

"Nii-sama is gambling again isn't he?" The man smiled and turned away looking out the window once more. Nodding to the maid confirm her thoughts, finding for once that he was grate full the young lady could not see what they saw as black smoke rose from the direction of the ghetto.

"That I do not know Ojou-sama; but when it comes to the young master that is most likely the case." Bowing he excused himself and headed to the room that had been set aside for his own use.

Walking to the sword the hung upon one wall in its sheath, blade pointing down into the earth and drew it into his hands. The swords weight still familiar in his hand light and lethal to those who threatened his charges.

With a quick twirl he placed the tip of the blade to the floor making a makeshift cross to pray before. As he knelt before the sword he looked into face reflected in its perfectly maintained blade.

The aged face looking back at him almost seemed to mock him. His loosely braided hair hung in a ponytail that reached almost to the small of his back. A few stray strands escaped falling across his weathered face. The well trimmed beard was as silver has his hair and framed his strong jaw. The edges of his eyes were beginning to crease but his steel blue eyes themselves remained as vibrant and alive as ever. But one fact remained, as a soldier, he was old.

Cursing his age of 47, while he still possessed the body and skills of his prime there was one thing he did lack, time. Soon his body would begin to fade but would it before the prince accomplished his goals would fortune favor him and grant him just a little more time to fulfill his oaths.

Rising he swung the sword twirling it as he had so many times in the past. The wind whistling as it was cut by steel in the practice strikes it had gone through so many times before.

Sliding the sword into its sheath the Roland gave it one last glance his eyes dancing along the custom made crest that held so many meanings for him. The title he once took pride in, an oath to which he lived his life by, and the shame of who he once served.

Turning from the blade that had served him for so many years he made a call. The weight of that seal and the inscription that was written upon it pressed down on his back.

The writing upon that sword was clear as the day he was presented that blade, casting on last glance it's direction he read it to himself while he waited for the line to connect.

It read:

_Knight of the Rounds_

_Knight of Six_

_Roland el Grigman_

_The maelstrom of Britannia_

The line connected the moment he finished the inscription.

"Yes? What is it?" The voice on the line answered but it was a mere formality. Its owner knew long ago what this call meant.

"His Majesty has begun to move" Roland closed his eyes and looked towards the heavens. This was the beginning. With a smile that could be heard over the phone the voice replied simply:

"Now Every thing shall change, Let our war begin."


	3. Setting the stage

Kallen cursed as bullets tore apart the concrete mere inches from the landspiners of her glaslow. She cursed the Britannian's for coming to the ghetto. She cursed at the scrap pile knightmare she was piloting. She cursed Ohgi for his poor leadership. Well she couldn't really blame him, he did his best; it was just that his best wasn't good enough.

Dodging another burst of fire she shook a strand of hair from her face. Looking around countless bodies filled her vision. They were loosing this fight, jumping over the bodies of an elderly couple gunned down in the street her wish slipped past her lips transmitted to any who could hear it over the screams and gunfire that filled the ghetto. _'Right now, we need a miracle.' _She couldn't help but have a sorrowful smile as the power gage suddenly began to chime warning her that she was running out of power.

"GO WEST" eh?! She couldn't' help but question her sanity as a n unknown voice thundered from her transmitter. "Go west! Use the last of y energy to get to the western exit!" there was only one thing she could do when she received that order; she questioned it. Miracles do not come that easily.

"Who are you!? How do you know this frequency?"

"That does not matter. If you wish to win then trust me!" The voice thundered once more, almost unheard by her ears. For she only truly heard one word _'WIN'_. Words that she repeated just to convince her such a word existed feeling the strange sensation the word sent through her body. Was she about to see a miracle with her own eyes? Before she could finish the thought she found herself racing west along the rail lines. She really had no other choice but to have faith in the unknown.

"What should I do now?" Adrenaline coursed through her veins as she rolled forward. Anticipation gripped her heart as she awaited his next command, something about his voice allowed her to believe. Perhaps it was the complete confidence it seemed to contain, with out a trace of fear. The 3 Sutherlands behind her no longer made her afraid, instead she willed them forward towards the mysterious voice that dangling hope in front of her face. Despite the situation she smiled when the voice spoke her once more as she barreled head long towards an oncoming train.

"Exchange for believing in me I shall help you win. Jump on top of it"

"Right" Trusting the voice completely she obeyed launching her frame on top of the oncoming train. The lead Sutherland smashed into the locomotive using brute force to bring the train before broadcasting over an open frequency.

"You two; get the eleven!" An order to which the drones happily followed launching them selves into the air following the same path she had taken over the locomotive. She watched as they came after her unscathed and felt a sudden pain in her chest. Closing her eye she waited for the end, not seeing but sensing the weapons coming to bear on her damaged glaslow and waited for the end. Then she heard them scream. Kallen's blue eyes shot open and she was amazed at what she saw. The two Sutherlands were smashed to one side Slash Harkens impaled in their cockpits.

Her eyes followed the blades as they with drew back to the Knightmare that launched them. A Sutherland just barley visible in a building just off the tracks. It sat perfectly still waiting for something to happen. It may have been only a single second but with the adrenalin Kallen had flowing in her veins made it seem an eternity, but something did happen. The Britannian made himself a target and started shouting, and for the first time that day she laughed as the fool finally realized the situation broadcasting his idiocy on his loudspeakers.

"Who are you? What unit are you from? Answer me……..Wait?! You're a terrorist!" What she hadn't expected was for the voice to reply the fools question with sarcastic comment of his own.

"Correct! Only 10 seconds to figure out that the trap you walked into was the enemies, you are clearly one of Britannia's brightest commanders! But you have still to figure out your biggest mistake!"

"Huh?!"

Kallen moved quickly to take advantage of the situation she her self had forgotten, attacking a second after the voice pointed out the Britannians mistake.

"You forgot about her" with that she struck downing the final machine before he even had the chance to scream. Looking at the fallen machine her mind returned back to reality.

"Thank you for…eh?" Her eyes danced along the landscape searching for the renegade machine that had just saved her. '_Where did he go?'_ There was a sudden crash out of her vision and she turned an found her self face to face with a sutherland. The enemy had appeared just feet from her and she hadn't even noticed, panicking she whipped her machine to the side targeting the cockpit with her harkens and just as her finger moved to launch the blades into the enemy machine a now familiar voice radiated out from its form still confident even as he was an instant from death.

"I would appreciate if you did not fire Q-1." Q-1? She knew the pilot was the one she had been relying on but what was he up to. For some reason she thought if she asked now, with just the two of them standing there, it might be the only time he would ever answer her.

"Who are you? Why are you helping us? Why are you fighting?" She flinched inside her cockpit as the Sutherland turned to face her. She was clearly the superior pilot so why did his simple movement startle her, was it because he chose to face her face to face, so to speak.

"Those are interesting questions Q-1, signs of an inquisitive mind."

"Q-1?" She had asked the question on impulse and regretted it the moment she heard her self speak blushing for the idiotic comment. It was a code name, and considering how easily he had broken onto their communication network is was easy to believe the Britannian's could do the same. When she heard him laugh her blush darkened a shade more then her hair, he had an attractive voice and from the humor in it he had to known her reaction even without seeing her she must have twitched the controls causing the machine to move.

"Kallen! Are you alright?" It was Ohgi's voice, and kallen found that for the first time in her life she was angry have re-enforcements on the battlefield. Open her cockpit she stood and waved to Ohgi before gesturing to the sutherland behind her.

"Ohgi I'm fine this guy saved me." Kallen looked down at Ohgi and suppressed her gasp. It seemed Ohgi had not noticed the kinghtmare behind her. Once she pointed him out, the rest of the group trained their weapons on the machine even though they couldn't possibly hurt it. Then Ohgi did the most leader like thing she had ever seen him do. He stepped from the group and confronted the machine.

"Who are you? Why are did you help us?" Laughter once more echoed from the frame.

"Interesting, very interesting, you asked the same questions as Q-1 did. Wait one moment and I shall answer your questions.

The back of the cockpit shifted as the latch came undone as the pilot stood in up revealing himself to the group. And for the first time ever Tamaki spoke what was on every ones mind.

"What the Hell?! He's a fucking Britannian!" The uniformed figure tensed as Tamaki attempted to draw a bead on him only to be forcefully stopped as Ohgi tore the weapon from Tamaki's hand sending him crashing to the ground. A powerful action but unnecessary as kallen had moved her knightmare, obstructing Tamaki's line of fire. Turning in her open cockpit turned to watch as the figure spoke.

"Ohgi was it? I thank you for that, I take it that you are the leader of this group?" Ohgi visably flinched as he looked at the Britannian pilot that just called him by name. Trying to make a judgment based on his appearance looked and tried to burn every detail into her memory, for tactical importance yeah that was the reason, well that was what she told herself anyways.

The Britannian wore the reddish brown uniform of the elite special forces, the people who ran the operations that didn't officially exist. The same people they had stolen the gas canister from in the first place to cause this mess. The trench coat he wore seemed to large for his body and bunched at places.

The commanders standard hung draped on his left shoulder bearing the seal of britannia on a black field. high black collar was pulled up and hid the lower portion of his face. The large cap that rested upon his head was pulled forward far enough to nearly obscure his violet eyes.

Looking into his eyes Kallen could not help but get the feeling that unless there was some mystical power that would allow her to look into his soul she would never truly understand him. Lost in her observation she was startled when Ohgi finally spoke.

"yeah...I'm the leader." It was easy to see that Ohgi was stressed. Kallen could see the sweat pouring off him from her position meters above him. " So answer my questions, why should we trust you?!" Kallen shifted her vision back to the man with violet eyes. She couldn't help but gawk at what she saw. While she couldn't see his face the shape of his eyes had changed in way that made it possible to understand his expression. They were questioning him calling him the enemy, and it made him SMILE! But more then his expression it was his words that surprised her.

"you should not trust me. Trust is something that is earned, and I have yet to earn your trust. Perhaps I never will." A chill ran down Kallens spine, while the mans voice still thundered with the authority and confidence it had before she heard, no felt was a better word, a deep sadness in it. When he spoke again the sadness was gone making her question if she had sensed it at all.

"But for now I offer this gift" and with a dramatic flourish he gestured the train "A tool to win this fight. I you wish to use it and stand victorious listen to my commands. I shall earn your trust today by creating a miracle."

With a gesture from Ohgi Kallen slid back into her cockpit and pried open one of the boxcars. Needless to say she was amazed by what she saw. She was entranced by what she saw and stayed frozen to the spot until she heard Ohgi.

"Kallen! What is it? Whats in there?!" Turning her head she looked Ohgi in the eye, the shock still splayed across her face and she said the only thing she could think of.

"In side is our miracle." Racing to the door Ohgi Peered in side and let out a strangled gasp of his own. Looking up at Kallen he gestured to the next car, racing over she tore the door off and looked inside. "theres more here!" Racing to the next car she looked inside " There are even more here!" While the others ran from car to car amazed at the Knightmares resting inside, she turned gawking at the britannian who promised them a miracle. If he didn't consider this a miracle she couldn't wait to see what he did call a miracle.

Ohgi looked from the train to the mystery man, then back to the train. Then he spoke up once more.

"Alright we'll do what you say. But answer me this first, do you consider this a miracle?"

The britannian eyes smiled once more as he responded.

"No Ohgi; This is not a miracle. This is merely how I set the stage." With that Ohgi felt himself smile, the first smile he ever had on the battlefield, before he turned and climbed into his Knightmare.


	4. Oath of Rage

Inside his recently acquired sutherland Ohgi was surprised to find himself smiling. He hadn't smiled like he was since, well since Naouto had passed away; And never on the battlefield. But something about this britannian, the way he talked, the way he acted, maybe it was just the limitless confidence that seemed to just radiate off him infecting all that came near him that caused it.

Some where deep inside a feeling that he had believed long dead was beginning to rise up. Filling every fiber of his being. '_hope'_ That was what the feeling was, This mans sudden appearance, his confident aura, the charisma he possessed all of it inspired hope in every single one of them. Yet within himself, it caused one other emotion, shame.

"Be ready for new orders in 15 minutes"

Ohgi couldn't help but be amazed as he looked at the mass of people moving around his knightmare. They moved with a purpose and confidence he had never seen before. The could almost be described as eager. That was something he had never inspired in them, and that made him feel ashamed.

Moments ago they were his responsibility; They were afraid and full of doubt, fearing death that was all but certain. They argued amongst themselves hesitated when they need to act. At times they had even gone as far to question his orders. Yet looking at the monitor what he saw was completely different.

They were smiling ready to follow a stranger's orders without question, regardless of the fact they knew nothing about him. Ohgi's shoulders sagged as he thought, he couldn't blame them. In the last few minutes this stranger had surpassed him in every possible way.

When Kallen was in danger it was the stranger who saved her. When they needed hope he appeared with his boundless confidence. When they need strength he gave them a train of the enemies weapons. When they need real leader, he promised to guide them to a miracle. With a sad smile Ohgi turned and watched knightmares move out of the train ready to create that Miracle, one they would never have thought possible following him.

"Soldier, there has been a report of a train entering your area. Neutralize it before the terrorists can use it." The sudden report came bursting from the stranger's knightmare clearly catching him off guard. Kallen laughed from somewhere out of sight at the stranger's almost bewildered response.

"Why should I? If the fop wants the train stopped he can order me him self." With that snide remark the stranger leaned on his cockpit using one arm to prop up his head as if he was casually talking to a close friend on the phone, and listened to the confused silence on the other end. Until a familiar voice responded.

"This is 3rd Prince Clovis de Britannia, Governor of area 11. I demand that.."

"Japan" A simple one word response. But that one word was spoken for a simple reason, to anger the prince enough to make a mistake. Even when he was caught off guard he kept his cool enough to counter attack.

"Did...DID YOU JUST INTRUPT ME?! Who the hell do you think you are?!" With that as a launching point the prince went into a mind numbing tirade. That the stranger responded to by holding the transceiver at arms length. Somewhere in the back of his mind Ohgi heard Tamaki bust out laughing

"Dude! Its like some whipped husband getting chewed out by his woman!" Even Ohgi couldn't help but laugh at a comment like that. Using the comment as a cue to launch an other jab at the prince with a playful tone to his voice he responded.

"Are you done yet? Because I really don't care."

"Who the Hell are you!? You arrogant bastard! I command you to identify yourself immediately!" And then the playfulness that was in his voice before was gone. Replaced by the calmest rage Ohgi had ever heard, and a shiver ran down his spine.

"I'm the man who is going to kill you Clovis" And then the world went silent.

"...Did you just?" That was all that was said, but then nothing else needed to be said. There was no one who possibly have expected him to say that, much less what he said next.

"You will pay for your crimes Clovis, this day is over, I WILL KILL YOU."

"...You dare to believe that you can withstand the might of Britannia?"

"No" Ohgi joined the countless others who froze at that statement. He had promised them a miracle and now...

"So you are not as stupid as I thought, surrender now and I might spare your life."

"You are mistaken Clovis. When I said 'NO' I meant I did not _believe_ I could oppose Britannia.

"...I don't...understand." Looking around at the faces around him, Ohgi came to the conclusion that he and clovis were not the only ones who didn't understand.

"That is not surprising, so I will explain it to you using small words that you can understand. I do not _believe I can_ for a very simple reason. I _KNOW_ I can _ DESTROY_ Britannia." Once more the world fell silent.

Looking at the scene that had just unfolded before him, Ohgi couldn't help but gawk like the others. The only person capable of movement after that was kallen. All she managed was to move her Knightmare next the the britannian's and twist her body in attempt to read the Brit's expression as he waited for the reply.

"One man can not stop Britannia." From the way the stranger twitched it was clear that he knew that as well. Maybe that was the reason Kallen did what she did. She jumped from her frame to his, reaching around his body to grab the transceiver; Her hand on his shoulder for balance she pulled it close enough for her to be heard and spoke.

"Who said he was alone?!" With that Kallen jumped back to her knightmare, a furious blush tinting her face red, clearly embarrassed by her outburst.

"It does not matter. No matter how many elevens stand against us, we shall prevail." Ohgi thought that the stranger had missed the outburst considering how he was looking at kallen after her actions. But no sooner then the prince stopped talking he looked back at the transceiver in his hand. Raising close to his mouth he replied.

"There are two things I must say to that Clovis. I am not Japanese, I suffer from the unfortunate affliction of being born britannian." That seemed to snap everyones attention back to him. There were not many who considered being born britannian an affliction. What had happened to him to make fill him with such hate.

"And secondly and most importantly I must tell you this. You under estimate the Japanese people. That is the real reason you will die this day." It was a simple truth yet for some reason Ohgi couldn't help but swell with pride. For some reason that man saying those words seemed like the highest compliment he could have received.

"I will not die! It is you will die! Just like the rest of the insects that died today!" The hysterical prince shouted back, fear dripping from every word so heavily Ohgi almost felt sorry for the fool.

"They were people Clovis!" Rage echoed in every word the stranger spoke as he no longer even tried to restrain it. "Innocent men, women, and children you murdered Clovis! I swear upon all the lives lost this day that before the sun sets, _**I WILL KILL YOU!**_" He paused a moment, calming his body as it shook with rage before he spoke again. "This is where we say goodbye Clovis. The next time we speak will be when I put a bullet threw your skull." Then he severed the connection and silently stood there. No one moved, no one spoke, it was as if a spell was cast on the world. It was Tamaki who broke the spell.

"You know what? I think I like this guy."

At Tamaki's words the stranger moved, ending the spell hes had cast on every one. Sliding into his cockpit he paused to say one last thing.

"5 minutes, be ready."

With that final sentence the cockpit sealed shut. A moment later his knightmare moved, jumping off the tracks leaving them to finish getting ready.


	5. Knight Fall

Kallen found herself following the stranger's knightmare while the others were still getting ready somewhere behind her. His actions so far seemed to indicate that he hadn't noticed her, a fact which seemed to embolden her further still.

When she finally caught up to him she found him out side of his knightmare gazing out a hole in the wall twenty stories above the ground. She froze half-way out of her knightmare when she heard him speak.

"When will they arrive?" Was he talking to her? " Do they know the signal?...Good tell them that allied frames have their IFF deactivated." She saw him turn slightly, gazing over his shoulder at her. Thats when she saw the cell phone as gestured for her to sit as he finished up. "Have them contact me on the frequency I gave you. Yes thats the one, Her ID is what? Interesting, I'll inform them of their temporary designations when they arrive. ... Me?" Kallen watched as he lowered the phone to stare at the ceiling. A small smile flickered on her face as she realized that he hadn't thought that far. " Zero, call me Zero."

"So zero is it?" Kallen smirked at the name, and watched as the smile returned to his eyes

"It will do for now Q-1. Why are you here? Did you come for the answer to your questions? Or was there an other reason?" That caught her off guard she hadn't actually thought about why she had followed him, she just had.

"I.. ah just came to came to... to tell you that the others were ready to move when ever your ready"

"They still have two minutes, let them catch their breath. They won't have the chance when the counter attack starts. But that was not the real reason you followed me was it?" Stunned she had no choice but to respond with the truth.

"No..it wasn't" She looked at him from the corner of her eyes, the slight blush preventing her from looking at him straight in the face. Even still she saw the laughter growing in his eyes, the jerk was enjoying every minute of her embarrassment. He seemed to wait until the last second, just as she started to get angry, to interrupt her train of thought.

"Now then, I believe that you asked me three questions when we first met. You know know the answer to the first. And to the last two I'll first answer them with an other question. What do you think is the greatest crime a person can commit?" She didn't answer there was no need to. Some part of her knew that his answer would be the same as hers.

"It's to stand by and do nothing while others suffer when you have the power to help them." She listened to his silence, and she began to realize the weight of the burden he was willing to bear. "Times up Q-1, get in your knightmare. It's time to stop this slaughter."

Lelouch returned to his knightmare with an usual calm. His mind slowly began to detach from reality as he stared at the monitor in front of him. Twirling the black king in his fingers, a calming breath later he went to work. It was just him and his chess pieces on the board, and like good little pawns they moved exactly like he wanted. For the next few minutes the world danced in the palm of his hand.

But then as things finally began to shift his way, when just over half of his enemies lay dead on the battlefield, he appeared. The knightmare that stole his smile. The white monster who came from the depths of hell.

"This is P-5! Some wired Knightmare is..." The burst of static was all the conformation he needed to know the pawns fate.

"This is R-2! The white frame is heading west on grid 2! Oh god Kenta hes' heading right towards you!" Cursing he leaned forward. Real war was not like a game, his pieces were panicking.

"B-2 Remain calm! Head north and meet with P-1 and P-2! Draw him out in the open!"

"B-2 Rodger! I'm heading north now! What the HELL?! How did he..." An other burst of static screamed from the radio signaling an other units destruction.

"This is R-1, White unit is heading south! What the hell do we need to do to stop this guy?!" Cursing inside his cockpit, Lelouch tried to crush the rage boiling up from with in him.

"All units remain CALM! It is only one unit! Just do as I say and we will win! P-1, P-2, and P-7 head towards.." He never finished speaking as his view suddenly filled with the body of a white knightmare with golden trim. The unit was so close he had time for a single thought, one which he broadcast aloud. "Shit!"

Kallen had started racing to where the so called "Zero" had set up his observation point when she realized just how close the new enemy frame was to him. She was jumping over buildings, hurling her frame across streets desperate to reach him before the white frame. Her heart sank as she heard him curse, she had obviously not made it in time.

Crawling over the last building what she saw amazed her. Zero's frame threw up its arms just in time to receive a earth shattering strike from the white unit that caused his Knightmare to vanish as it went hurtling from the building. Moments later he reappeared a few floors below smashing his way through the supports.

"P-1!P-2!P-7! 200 meters north of my position, get there now! Q-1 if your done watching the show you do the same! NOW!" Regretting the fact she ever worried about the jerk Kallen turned to meet up with Ohgi, no P-1, and the others. With a parting glance she watched zero bring the building down on his head.

Lelouch raced blindly through the rising smoke, dropping the building had been an act of desperation. At best he could hope for a few seconds to get some distance between him and that monster.

"P-1, are you and the others in position yet?" Damn, he was forced to rely on that fool Ohgi and whoever else he had gathered.

"Ah...yes, yes we reached the place you pointed out, Kallens here too." Cursing Lelouch found himself regretting not shooting the fool when he had the chance.

The pieces had code names for a reason, it wasn't like he had '_no idea'_ what there names actually were.

"Q-1, when the white frame clears that smoke engage it in close combat. The rest of you form up on me and continue to fall back."

"Eh?"

"You want kallen to face that monster alone?! She there is no way she can win" Worthless pawn! The idiot was actually questioning his orders.

"Ohgi! I can take this guy!" Lelouch smiled at the comment. She was spirited, no idea about what she was talking about, but spirited.

"Q-1, you can not win." Her startled gasp made him smile, even with everything going to hell, it was still fun to toy with her.

"Then why?"

"Because all you need to do hold him still for one second. The moment you have him occupied we shall open fire, by then he will probably have forced you to eject."

"He can't be that good"

"Well then lets find out shall we. Here he comes" and as if following orders the frame came bursting out out of the smoke and right into Q-1's waiting arms but downing two pawns in the process.

Moving to hide ground his teeth. The match went as expected Q-1 lasted 4 seconds, far longer then he expected but she still lost. The only thing that did go his way was the flesh wound. While he and his now dead pawn took their shot his miracle happened.

The beast's shield failed for a fraction of a second, just long enough for a single round pass. The cowards over reaction to that small scratch was his saving grace.

Countless units were lost to that single frame and a flesh wound was his reward. That was not an acceptable trade. The sudden vibration in his pocket stalled his spiral into depression. Reading the caller ID he smiled, no more then that he started laughing.

"It is nice to finally hear from you. I was beginning to think you weren't going to show, Virtue. Interesting choice by the way." His smile growing at the womans response.

"well now your majesty, what point is there in being a rounds if a lady can't choose her own code name?"

"Former Rounds virtue, former rounds, and for the moment you will be Knight 1, and.. "

"How sweet, a promotion! You sure know how to charm a girl. By the way Valor is here as well, I take it he is Knight 2?" His sigh was more then justified. As he massaged his temples he came to the conclusion she had earned the name 'Mad hatter' for more then just her battlefield exploits.

"That is correct Knight 1, have either of you two secured a knightmare yet?"

"We both have, so what do you want us to do?" He paused, then put 6 pieces on the control panel before him, 4 black and 2 white. Tipping the black queen he placed it to the side, she was down but not dead, he would find a way to use her later.

He quickly grouped his knights and king around the white knight and frowned. It would not work. Staring at the pieces he had left, he suddenly smiled. Swapping the black king with his queen, he stared idly at the king, smile growing by the second.

Zero after all was the presence of nothing. Patting the king now resting in the pocket of his _Britannian _uniform he made his move.

"Listen carefully, here is what I want you to do."

Tamaki was willing to admit that he wasn't the smartest guy in the world, but he knew a good thing when he saw it. Well at least he hoped he did, the fact the guy was britannian just didn't sit right. Who the hell calls himself zero?

The guy's only good quality was the fact he swore to kill that royal prick. Well that and the way he kicked britannian ass, there was the way he saved kallen; that was cool to. Then there was the thing with the shit load of knightmares that he pulled out of nowhere. OK the guy rocked but he was still a Brit.

Things were going kick ass until a little while ago when that white knightmare showed up. If the prick hadn't surprised him, he could have taken him. The only consolation was kallen got her ass kicked too.

Sitting on his ass took the chance to look around the warehouse. Ohgi was talking to the others with Kallen, somethin' about the guys zero brought in. Inoue was messin' with the chumps that were too stupid to bail when the army rolled in.

Well at least things couldn't get worse, Tamaki felt his shoulders slump, what was he thinking? Shit always got worse, and right on cue the Brits came smashing in front door with a tank on their heels. Shit always got worse. You liar, you said you'd give us a miracle.

The guns seemed to just float up. It's funny the barrel of a gun never seems bigger then when someone else points them at you.

"Ready! Aim!" Hey Tamaki, old pal, prepare to kiss your ass goodbye.

"Drop your weapons!" A familiar voice boomed from the Knightmare that came crashing down between them and the Brits, its weapon trained at the tank. Man, Zero kicks ass. "Drop your weapons now or die!" Unfortunately the brits dropped their guns, but hey got a tank in the process but that wasn't as important as the 2 knightmares that came crashing through the wall. Considering the fact that zero didn't shoot the guy was a good sign, right?

Who ever the pilot was, he was good as kallen. maybe better. The fight was more then one sided, the brit never even got a punch in the same direction the guy was, much less hit. But still the finishing blow was awesome, fist straight through the cockpit grinding him into the ground.

Tamaki said the only thing his adrenaline soaked brain could come up with.

"You are awesome! I never seen a guy kick so much ass before!" He jaw nearly hit the ground hard enough to break it as the blond bombshell came sliding out of the cockpit.

Her hair went down to her narrow waist casting a golden glow on her porcelain skin. Camo pants and combat boots covered what were very clearly perfect legs. Then there was that shirt,it was so tight it could have been a second skin. If he kept gawking at her any longer he was going to start drooling.

"Well of course not! There is now way a man could ever be this good!" tossing her hair she shot a sideways glance at Kallen, her eyes burning with laughter. "Wouldn't you agree Q-1?"

"Virtue, how is the plan proceeding?" Tamaki heard the gasps of the people behind him. There was no way they had thought their hero was a brit, especially one in a special forces uniform.

"Valor should have that white unit here shortly."

"good, now only one thing remains." Lelouch throw an unseen smile at the red head below as he lowered himself on the zip line. "Q-1, Take my knightmare. You will need it for my plan to work." He didn't need to look, she was already perfectly loyal, like an obedient pet she was already climbing into the frame.

"when Valor arrives with the white frame, virtue assist in close combat. Q-1 I want you to hide there." He spoke pointing at a random building of acceptable hight. Virtue and Valor will attempt to push the beast there. One my signal they will both strike in a manor that will allow, no, force him to block." Pausing his explanation just long enough to slide into the tanks turret. " With him occupied you should have a single moment to strike . Do you understand the plan?"

"I understand, But are you sure it's going to work?"

Before he could answer Virtue spoke from her frame.

"Its a simple plan but effective. The way this pilot is fighting shows that hes a rookie. He relying completely on the superiority of his machine." Watching the exchange he was reassured to see that she could be serious when the situation called for. Then just as Q-1 moved out of hearing she looked at him with a twinkle in her eyes that made him shiver. "Don't worry zero! I'll make sure your precious Q-1 is OK for your date!" He felt his face burn, when he tried to speak the words tangled in his throat. There was only one option that would allow him to save face, retreating in to the turret he slammed the hatch shut cursing aloud. Damn, the witch was as bad as Milly, he had thought that impossible.

"Zero I'll be at your position in 20 seconds and i'm bringing our guest with me." Grate full for the distraction Lelouch turned to the task at hand. Virtue, the evil witch, moved as a true professional should.

The battle was far more vicious then he had predicted. The skill of all 3 pilots was at a level he could barley comprehend as the buildings around them were leveled. Yet things still moved as he desired, they were forcing him towards Q-1, smiling he gave the command.

His knights were so well timed they could have been reflections of one and other, and just as he hoped the white frame caught the strikes in his hands. Lelouch doubted the pilot knew what happened as he suddenly found his arms restrained by the two frames seconds before he was clearly beating with a third barreling down on him. The anticipation of the final strike was a moment of ecstasy, time seemed to slow down so he could take in every moment, and just as Q-1's strike made contact the frame showed its power.

The monster hurled itself back, dragging the two frames with it, evading Q-1 strike in shower of sparks. It's arms were free a moment later as it sent the sutherlands flying with a twist of its body, retreating only a few dozen meters, it paused waiting for the next move.

"Zero, what are your orders?" Cool and collected like a good soldier should be. Lelouch smiled, Valor was an excellent code name for the man.

"Do exactly the same thing."

"Understood, but the outcome will be the same."

Yes a very good soldier indeed, watching the fight resume lelouch's smile grew. A soldier that followed orders even when he knew that they would fail was a very useful piece.

A moment of chaos the machine was restrained once more, and just as before as Q-1 came charging at the machine ready to strike the frame moved. The gradual shift forward probably went unnoticed by most, but not to him. That was the signal he was waiting for, with a feral smile he sent the tank shell smashing into the frames cockpit.

It was a beautiful scene to watch. His arms bounds like a criminal, the frame bowed before his black queen as she brought her fist down like a guillotine crushing its head with enough force to tear off its arms in the process.

"The white knight has fallen."

I need to rant.  
Why do people always say Lelouch sucks as a pilot?  
Watch ep 2, he is the only person to successfully block suzaku's attacks, much less actually get way.

Also I'm sorry this ch sucks. I'll try to make the next better.

One last thing, within the next few chapters I'll start to make the major changes with the new characters, well at least I'll try to.


	6. Unexpected guests

The reality of what was happening was finally beginning to wash over her. The shear overwhelming scale of it frightened her. The adrenaline coursing through her veins was enough to make her tremble. He had promised them a miracle and he'd given it to them.

Turning her frame back to the others she felt something against her foot. It was one of the chess pieces she had seen when she had taken his knightmare, a white knight. A second later she had all 5 pieces sitting on the console in front of her.

Zero called the enemy _white knight_. Holding the piece in her hand she had to wonder, was this what he meant? The white king was Clovis, which was easy to figure out, the black knights were the two in the frames right next to her. So why did that make her the black Queen?

"Knight 1, Knight 2, Q-1 regroup on my position, our work is not done yet." She would talk to him about the pieces later. But for the moment he was right, there was still work to do and he was the only one that could finish what they started.

When she got back she watched him climb out of the tank. It was strange in a way, in the last seven years the tank had become all but useless in modern combat. Yet in his hands it was the key to victory against what was clearly the superior enemy.

"Q-1 you and Knight 1 are going to run escort on the civilians. Head south taking everyone you can find with you. Abandon the frames if necessary." The guy was amazing; even as they were fighting with no chance of wining he was already planning the next move. "Knight 2 you will be coming with me. There is one last thing that needs to be done."

The way he stood brought to mind a painting. The way the light of the setting sun fell upon him was strangely beautiful. Everything she hated was there. He was a Britannian, in the uniform of Britannia's most sadistic butchers, standing on a weapon that had killed countless people, and it was still beautiful.

"what are you going to do?" Some part of her knew what he was talking about, but the urge to here him say it once more was overwhelming. Dropping down from the turret he paused to look at her, almost as if he knew that was what she wanted.

"It's almost sunset, and I still have a promise to keep"

"Bad man go away!" It was a child no older then 4 or 5. He had run forward to attack zero before anyone had noticed, and they froze, others cried out in terror. It was a reflex years of oppression had ingrained in them. When someone stood against Britannia's special forces they were punished on the spot, no matter who they were.

But zero just stood there, watching the child punch his leg over and over. He didn't say anything, nor did he try to stop it. She was looking up at him when she realized what she had done; she had placed herself like a human shield in front of the boy. But with one look into his eyes she felt as if she had moved to protect the wrong person.

His eyes seemed distant, as if they were looking at something far way. Perhaps they were looking even further then distance maybe even into an other time.

"Onii-chan is not a bad guy" Forcing a smile onto her face, the same one she always showed to the others at school.

"Liar! He looks like they bad men that hurt Oka-san!" She couldn't help but wince at that, it was probably true. Leaning forward she whispered in to his ear.

"It's a secret but Onii-chan is a spy."

"A spy?"

"Yep, a spy. He dresses like bad guys so he can sneak up on them."

"Why?" She couldn't help but smile at the question. It was such a child's question, one that could only come from a completely trusting soul, and Zero answered.

"To make the bad men disappear." Without an other word he walked away crawling into the waiting hand of Knight 2's knightmare and vanished in the direction of Clovis's command center.

His mother, the boy had attacked him because of what happened to his mother. The suddenness of it prevented him from blocking it out. The memories came flooding back in a torrent. The way he had stood before his father, the baseless courage that allowed him to stand before power incarnate, the emperor of Britannia. No one had moved to protect him though. Q-1 had rushed to the boy's side almost the moment he started.

Then she lied to the boy. Some how when she looked at him she sensed something, perhaps the adrenaline had let her feel his tension, and made her protect him. In that single moment she had found him more fragile than a child. How could he be the weaker one? Punching the frames hand beneath his feet he cursed.

"That will not happen again."

"Your highness? Is there something wrong?" Turning to the frame he finally realized something.

"I haven't explained what we're doing have I?" A smile of relief gracing his features; he ran the scenarios in his mind planning out his next action. "We are going to kill Clovis." And with a smile he explained the details and waited for the knight to respond.

"That plan is foolish and dangerous, but…"

"But nothing, this plan will work. The very nature of the Britannian culture and military are what make it a nearly perfect plan."

"Nearly?" Even distorted through the systems speakers it was possible to hear the skepticism.

"No plan is perfect, but this will succeed simply because of the recourses we posses." Pausing for the knight to reply. Taking the silence as a sign to continue his explanation. "We currently posses more than enough information to pass any security check. Our equipment is brintaninan issue. The knowledge I posses is more complete then what is being presented to their own troops. There is no way Clovis is going to risk the chance of what I know getting leaked; so he will, with out a doubt allow us to drive right into his perimeter uncontested. It is his cowardice that will send him running into my arms. Radio in, have them send us an escort." Lelouch struggled to suppress his laughter as moments later as a squad of Sutherlands moved into an escort formation around him, there commander promising that he would reach the prince unharmed. Minute's later lelouch set foot in the heart of the enemy's command center.

"Pilot! Leave your machine and come with me. Undoubtedly, His royal highness will wish to speak with you as well" Walking away from the machine he did not wait, nor look back. Carrying him self with all the self-righteous arrogance he remembered from the years in the palace, in this rare occasion, drawing the attention of every one was the safest way to slit Clovis's throat. Turning in the elevator that lead up to the command deck, he got his first good look at the former knight of 5 in 7 years.

The man had hardly changed. At 30 his hair was still black as night, cut short and unkempt. His hazel eyes still possessed the eerie quality that made it seem like they saw through everything. The tan skin of his face flawless, gracing him with the appearance of a man many years younger, but it was still his hands that always drew eyes. Faint lines covered every square inch, scars from countless hours of training with the short blades that had earned him his position as a rounds.

"You look well Alastor, the years have been kind to you" The corner of the knights mouth twitched slightly, the closest thing the man had to a smile.

"Thank you, your highness." For some reason the sudden urge to tease the man electrified his body. With a quick glance, it became apparent what would trigger the best response.

"This may be a bad time to ask, but how have your knife skills fared over the years?" the smirk lay hidden beneath the collar of his uniform waiting for his irritated response. But low and behold Alastor actually smiled, turning to face the young prince he twitched his arms and a half-dozen blades filled his hands.

"I think they shall do your highness."

"Indeed, your skills seem sharper then the last time I saw them. This is your stop I believe." With that he paused to press the door button. "The armory is on this level if I remember the layout correctly. Fight as you see fit, but have this vehicle ready to blow by the time I finish with Clovis. We are going to need a good distraction."

The doors opened to a squad of britannians. They never reacted to their presence, for Alastor had killed them before the doors finished sliding open. Stepping over the corpses lelouch thought he saw him shiver, but the dull thuds of bodies striking the ground confirmed his previous thought. Alastor was becoming faster with his blades.

The anticipation was finally starting to get to him. He took his time neatly folding down the collar of his uniform, the hat fell to the floor as he ran his hands through his hair. Using his reflection in the doors he tugged his uniform straight, smiling to himself. One had to maintain a certain level of decency in the presence of royalty. Especially one who was about to die.

The doors slid open to reveal a heavily armed squad of soldiers defending the hallway. Looking from one confused face to an other he greeted them with a polite smile, and said a single word. "DIE"

Carefully he stepped around the corpses that littered the floor until he stood before the ornately decorated door that signified the command deck. Just as he raised he gloved hand to knock the door slid open. A bald fat officer stood across from him, pistol shaking in his hand.

"How did you get here eleven?!"

"There are two things I need to say about that. First I am not an eleven. And second.." with a nod over his shoulder at the piles of bodies behind him, "It should be obvious. Now give me your weapon" and like the perfect puppet he was he followed orders. After a moment of blissful ignorance the officer found him self staring down the barrel of his own weapon. "Good dog, now play dead" Lelouch couldn't help but wonder what the last thing that went through his head was, besides the bullet, but a terrified cry from across the room interrupted his thoughts.

"What the hell are you?! What the hell did you just do?!" Clovis coward on his thrown, to afraid to run away in an attempt to save his own life. Laughing quietly he walked to the center of the room giving Clovis a mocking bow.

"Now Clovis, is that any way to great your brother back from the dead?"

"Brother back from the dead?" Confusion replaced fear, and Clovis took a few timid steps forward. "Lelouch? It is you right? It is it really you?"

Lelouch watched with growing amusement, desperate hope was beginning to grow in Clovis. He could see it shouting from his eyes.

"Yes brother, it is me Lelouch" He was going to let it grow just a little bit more, let the roots grow even deeper, just so it would hurt all the more when he tore it all away. " Nunaly and I survived despite best efforts to the contrary."

"Nunaly is alive as well? This is fantastic! Just wait until every one heres about this! It will be shouted all over the world that you still live!" There it was, Clovis was full of hope once more, it was now time to tear that hope to shreds.

"Now dear brother lets not get ahead of our selves, after all it is nearly sunset" The puzzled look on Clovis's face brought a smile to his face.

"Sunset? What does that have to do with anything?"

"Brother, the last time we spoke I made a promise to you remember?" The smile on Lelouch's face became something darker as Clovis's features twisted into a look of terrified comprehension. Clovis leapt to his feet and attempted to desperately scramble around the throne placing it between him and lelouch only to be stopped in his tracks as a bullet smashed into the throne mere inches from his head.

"Why are you doing this?" Whimpering beside his throne Clovis said the worst possible thing he could have. " I can make you and nunaly royalty again." The rage lelouch had been struggling to control slipped through his fingers, exploding through every vein and fiber of his being, sending him sprinting up the stairs towards Clovis.

"Why the hell do you think I would want that? To be forced to bear that mans name once more?" Grabbing Clovis by the hair he dragged him down on his knees in front of him before crushing the burning barrel of his pistol in the prince's face. Lelouch stared into Clovis terrified eyes as the smell of burning flesh filled the air between them, and he spoke with a hatred that none could equal. "Do you think I'd allow you to drag Nunaly back into that mans world?" Staring into his brothers tear filled eyes he unleashed his geass. Some part of him felt sick as Clovis's face became one of content obedience, but the other part of him, the one he forged in hatred for so many years smiled and expressed the joy of a single thought; Checkmate.

He walked away from the puppet that was once his brother, forcing his racing heart to slow allowing his mind to calm. Eyes dancing about thee room seeking out something that would allow him capitalize on the situation even further, and they stopped on the comm system. Turning back to his brother let out a slight chuckle.

"Well now dear brother, lets give the people a show they shall never forget." Rising from his position on the floor he walked forward with a content smile.

"Of course brother, what kind of show would they like?" Looking at his brother smiling at him in such a trusting manner he couldn't help but think what a shame it would be destroy such a useful piece so early in the game.

"What did I do to disserve this?!" Kallen froze in her knightmare when she heard an amplified voice scream throughout the ghetto. It was a voice she had hated for so many years and often dreamed of hearing it cry out in terror, but this was no dream. Clovis was at this moment begging for his life for all in the ghetto to witness, and the deaf ears, which those pleas fell upon, could only belong to one man, Zero.

"You murdered countless people Clovis! Did you expect to go unpunished for you actions?" She shivered as she felt his amplified voice resonate in her body; and like the countless others around her she turned to gaze back into the ghetto.

"The were just elevens! Nobody will care!" Rage clouded her thoughts as she suddenly raced back towards the ghetto, stopping only as the woman she had been instructed to call knight 1 moved her own frame to block her path.

"Move! I have to kill that bastard!" She had shouted at the top of her lungs only to find her self staring at the darkening sky. Her frame lying on its back.

"Foolish girl! Do you honestly believe that Zero will do anything else but kill him!?" and as if he was listening to her, his voice roared back rage resonating in every word.

"JUST ELEVENS?! The were people you bastard! They were innocent people! Men, women, and children you murdered you worthless piece of garbage!"

"But they were just elevens!" She listened as she watched the last traces of orange and red begin to fade from the sky. Clovis kept saying it over and over, they were just elevens, just elevens, as if repeating would eventually make it true.

"you are beyond redemption Clovis." The sentence seemed to only increase Clovis's terror, his chant growing more and more hysterical.

"But they were only elev..." The world seemed to explode and stand still at the same time. That gunshot signaled far more than mere words could ever hope to describe. Amplified by the pa system it would undoubtedly be heard miles from the ghetto even tho those that heard it wouldn't understand its meaning.

But to those who lived in the ghetto it had a meaning they could feel at the very core of their being. The deafening silence that followed allowed all to understand. This was more then the death of a prince, it was the death of era, and as the sun set a fire erupted to the north, and the earth itself trembled.

**A few days after the death of Clovis**

Kallen was still in a state of shock over what had happened in Shinjuku. She was there but it just didn't feel real, they had accomplished so much it could only be a dream. A voice called out from behind her, waking her from her daze.

"Miss Stadfeld,a moment of your time" The voice belonged older gentlemen in a finely trimmed suit a kind and polite smile on his face, his silver hair in a lose pony tail that seemed to fit nicely with his neatly trimmed beard It took only a moment to realize what he was as she saw the soft white gloves so many Brittanian butlers seemed to prefer. As she prepared to brush of what was surely just another attempt by some noble brat to impress her the butler stepped forward and the air around her seemed to change, forcing her to take a second look at the man.

Truly looking at the man for the first time she tensed. He was big, and it was not just a matter of height either. The finely pressed suit he wore hid much of his frame but when he moved she could see the muscles tense threatening to tear the cloth, he withdrew an envelope from his breast pocket and held it out to her his eyes suddenly losing their gentle warmth. He was a soldier impersonating a butler.

"I'm afraid my master insists you accept.." Feeling the cold steel in his voice she tentatively took the envelope from his hand, the action bringing a warm smile back to mans face. "Good! Hope to see you there miss Stadfeld." Turing he left her with a casual wave over his shoulder before walking way casually, hands folded behind his back, as if taking a simple stroll in the park.

Finally turning her attention to the letter in her hands she smothered a startled cry. In an ornate script read the one thing she had never expected, in the place of her name were only two characters, Q and a 1. Whoever Zero was he knew far more than she wanted him to.

Jeremiah Gottwald sat alone in his office, despair eating at his soul. Once again he had failed his loyalty. Yet that was not what kept him from sleep, it was the nightmares. Every time the same images tore at him as he tried to seek peace. Yet what haunted him most was a man who called him orange, no matter how hard he tried to remember he could not remember where. It was if he had been told to forget the location but not the event.

Leaning back he stared at the ceiling searching for answers that would not come, when his eyes closed again he dreamed. Not the dreams that had haunted so much as of late, but of a happier time. The location that held both his highest pride and greatest shame, the home of the late empress Marianne.

He found himself sitting in the soldier mess hall of the imperial villa, pealing an orange from his family's plantation. He smiled as a the memory of a young girl dragged the young prince into the room gasping for breath. Her name forgotten, that fact seemed to irritate him, but his dream soon provided it for him as the young prince spoke.

"Milly! Wait a minute, I'm tired I need to rest!" He smiled as the lady seemed to relent and dragged the exhausted prince to his table forcing him into a seat before turning her attention to him. Her eyes danced back and forth from the tags he wore around his neck and the logo on the orange in his hand.

"Why do you have the same name as that orange?" The directness of the question had caught him off guard.

"My family owns the plantation that grows them."

Remembering fondly the look on the young girls face as she processed the information, he smiled to himself. She took only a moment before pointing at him and giving him his new name, much to the amusement of all that were present.

"From now on you are orange." The young girl turned attention to the prince beside her. "Lulu, from now on his name is orange got that" The young prince protested on his behalf briefly only to be subdued by a look from the young lady. " I said his name is orange"

The smile grew broader as he remembered how the young prince had stood, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry orange, but she scares me more then you" The look in the young princes violet eyes seemed to glow with amusement even as he apologized. Jeremiah closed his eyes to the memory trying not to laugh but when he looked upon the prince once more the man who stood before him was older, hate burned in his violet eyes just barely visible above the collar of his uniform.

Then he awoke clinging to his desk as sweat poured from his body. It couldn't be possible, could it? The man that was haunting him these last few days, was it really the prince?

His fingers danced across the keyboard in front of him. It was just a small chance but it had to mean something, he had to have dreamed of the young lady ashford for a reason. If memory held right they ran a school in the area. If the prince still lived he would surely have contacted the ashfords for help. After all they had suffered when lady Marianne passed as well, they would help her children as well wouldn't they?

A moment latter he was within the Ashford schools systems. His eyes danced over names and profiles, pictures of school festivals and after school clubs. That is when he saw it, the picture of the student council. Tears fell from his eyes as he reached out to gently touch the computer screen as if afraid that his touch would harm the people it was of. Before his very eyes were her children, hiding under her name perhaps he had not failed in his loyalty yet.

"Good night Nunaly." Lelouch spoke softly as he tucked his sister into bed, it was best if one of them got a good nights sleep, his thoughts drifting to the meeting he was about to have. Roland had finally consented to allowing him to meet the other rounds face to face; the only restriction was that he be the one to make all the arrangements including the location and time. It was a surprise when he found out that location was his own room, but then it could have been as simple as the knights wishing to see Nunaly without her knowing.

Opening the door to his room he found the three knights waiting. Alastor sat in one of the chairs that filled the room with Charlotte ,the former knight of two, seated across from him. Roland stood beside the remaining empty chair, clearly meant for himself, in front of the window. Walking toward the window he looked outside, checking for followers completing the habit that calmed his nerves only to smile bitterly a moment later.

"Roland it seems we have another guest, would you bring him up before he wakes Nunnally? Also invite the woman following him as well."

Villetta Nu couldn't shake the feeling something important was happening. Even as she followed Jeremiah on to the school grounds the feeling only seemed to grow stronger, especially when the door opened for Jeremiah before he could reach it.

"The young master would like you to come in as well mil lady." Villetta froze as the old butler called out over Jeremiah's shoulder. When she didn't move the man turned to speak to Jeremiah, a moment latter he called out to her removing any chance of escape.

"Villetta! Get over here now!"

Jeremiah seemed different as she stood next to him. The almost childish giddiness he had before was gone, now he seemed nervous as if he had made some horrible mistake.

"I thank you for your quick acceptance of the young masters hospitality. Now if you would both follow me he has delayed the meeting until your arrival." From the corner of her eye she saw Jeremiah tense. What kind of person could have that sort of effect on a Margrave? It was not long until they reached their destination. "Please enter he is waiting inside."

The three individuals sitting in side the darkend room, lit mostly by the light of the full moon, captured her attention immediately. One of the chairs sat a man in a bright Hawaiian shirt and cargo pants, even thought he had yet to move or speak it seemed to clash with his personality. The woman across from him seemed familiar to her, a moment latter the realization struck her. The blond woman in the suit could only be one person. The banished knight of two, the only knight to ever have the position of rounds taken from her.

Finally her eyes rested on the young man who sat at the head of the room, the old butler moved to stand at his side confirming that he was the young master of which he spoke. The boy just sat there with a polite smile on his face, resting his chin on his free hand, yet he the aura he radiated terrified her. Who ever he was he had the power to acquire a rounds, that alone spoke volumes.

"Your alive" Jeremiah's trembling voice finally caused her gaze to shift from the boy to him kneeling on the floor, tears flowing down his face."Your highness, thank god you are alive" then her heart stopped.

The smile on lelouch's face grew as he watched the scene playing out before him. Jeremiah had all but offered himself to him, he was going to become a very useful piece; and the woman was just as entertaining. The look on her face when she saw Charlotte was amusing, when Jeremiah had proclaimed him royalty the look was priceless.

"Miss Nu, you seemed surprised. We'll introduce ourselves, perhaps that will help calm you. I see that you recognized the woman to my right. She is Charlotte Maxwell the Mad hatter, former knight of two. To my left is the former knight of five Alastor Grave."

Lelouch paused to let the poor woman begin to process some of the information he had given her. When she nodded dumbly he took it as a sign to continue.

"Now for the forgotten dead. Behind me is the former knight of six Roland el Grigman, The maelstrom of Britannia, who tragically lost his life during the invasion of japan seven years ago. Then there is myself, the britannia's castaway prince, the eleventh prince Lelouch Vi Britannia."

"Why are you telling me this?" It was impressive, despite her obvious fear she hid it well behind her anger.

"Miss Nu it should be obvious, I would like your help with what I am about to do."

"and what are you planing?" It was interesting to watch her, clearly she was still struggling to process what was happening. There was only one way to truly determine where her loyalty was. If worse came to worse there was always geass.

"To change this world there is only one way, open war with Britannia."

"You are insane you have no chance of beating Britannia!" Of the reactions she was expecting from him, laughter was clearly not one of them.

"Miss Nu do you know what they call men who charge headlong into battles they have no hope of winning? They call them revolutionaries."

"so even you admit it is impossible"

"His highness would never enter a fight he had no hope of winning" Lelouch couldn't help but smile at Jeremiah's confidence in him.

"Jeremiah is correct. I would never fight a battle I had no chance of winning, and I believe what occurred a few days ago proves that."

"You mean that.."

"Yes Miss Nu I am the one responsible for the events in shinjuku. Now I ask you once more, will you help me?"

"You make it seem like I have a choice."

"Miss Nu, there is always choice. It's just that some choices are better then others." he said with a smirk.

"Choice? If I decline after what you have told me I would no doubt be killed. If I chose to side with you its treason and when you undoubtedly fail it will be death. So all you given me is a choice of death or death. Why are you smiling?"

"Its just that what you said is wrong. If you decline I will not kill you, I won't allow it, not in this house where my sister may learn of it. You will just find yourself in a public place with no recollection of what happened over the last few hours. But I urge you to consider joining me for a great many reasons."

"Such as?"

"Well for the most part if would be beneficial for your social standing. Considering whats about to happen here in japan the current leadership is going to appear completely incompetent and will no doubt has significant problems with there career, that is if they should manage to survive."

"So you made a good argument for me to walk out of here, now why should I commit treason?" Her sarcasm really was amusing, it might be as entertaining to mess with her as the redhead.

"Its only treason if I fail and I assure you I won't. Shinjuku is my proof" pausing to raise a silencing hand "Let me explain, when I arrived in shinjuku I had nothing. Yet I still managed to achieve victory with the assistance of poorly trained, poorly armed and outnumbered terrorists I managed to crush what is considered an elite unit; and I did so without the aide my rounds. In fact Charlotte and Alastor did not arrive until after the deployment of that prototype."

"How did you.."

"Know that it was a prototype? It's late deployment and lack of equipment, but that is irrelevant. You now now the conditions of the previous battle, now I ask you to consider this. What will happen when I field three knights of the round at the same time? Now also take into account I intend to field them with an army with those same terrorists at its core. That by itself is a fearsome image but there is more. Those terrorists have with them a pilot who's skills a believe could earn her a place as a rounds if she saw fit."

"There is no way a terrorist could possess such skill!"

"Miss Nu I was not done speaking! Nor do I make such statements lightly. I intend to risk everything to accomplish my goals, including the safety of my sister. There is no reason I would estimate her skills to rival that of a rounds if did not truly believe it!" The outburst was louder then intended, the anger at his implied incompetence was a bit more then he expected, requiring him to take a calming breath before continuing.

"So when I ask you to commit treason as you put it remember this. I will be fighting with the power of at least four rounds, more if I can acquire the aces of the JLF, with the support of a competent army. Something unheard of in the britannian military by the way. I will also possess a spy among the highest levels of the local government feeding me information on every action they take against me. So with that in mind Miss Nu, what is your choice? Will you help me? Or will you choose to risk everything with a failing empire?"

Her choice was obvious, he had seen the change in body language awhile back but his personal need for dramatics required he ask the question. And just as he predicted she fell to one knee before him and pledged her loyalty the same as Jeremiah. Things were going better then he could possibly have hoped, that is until Roland placed a hand on his shoulder and said something that made his blood run cold.

"Miss Stadfeld now that you know everything, is there anything you would like to add?"

"No, but I do have few questions that I want answered before I decide anything." It was hard to move, it took all the strength in his body to turn his head to look in the direction her voice had come from. But when he finally managed, it was just in time to see her step from the shadows into the light.


	7. Declaration of War

_Someone pointed out that I was close to plagiarizing "Knights of the Revolution" Now that I have actually read it I have to say they were right, I was too close for comfort. I hope now I have moved far enough in a different direction to avoid this in the future but I still feel I need to explain the following._

_Why 3 Knights? I was raised Catholic and have a thing for the holy trinity, I like 3's_

_Why a knight named maelstrom? Maelstrom sounds kick ass thats why, I got nothing else for that_

_Why did Orange defect? Well... he's Orange, he kinda has to_

_Well anyways in the next chapter I plan on bringing in a new royal created from my own boredom. Hopeful you will like him. All that I will way about his is that he has his own custom Knightmare and is enough of a bad ass to not need a knight. His back story is good too. i think._

At first she thought It was nothing more then a elaborate play for her amusement, but the look of shock on Lelouch's face was all the proof she needed to know that it was real. More importantly that he had no idea she was there.

"Roland.. What is she doing here?" It was impressive how quickly he recovered from the shock. His voice was calm and his face showed no signs of distress.

"I'm sorry sire, I felt it would be best if she were brought in as soon as possible. After all if you plan to use the group she is a part there would be far too many chances for her to discover who you really are."

"Regardless of the reason you overstepped you bounds Roland." He stared straight at her the whole time, never turning to acknowledge the knight he was speaking to. She shivered as rage radiate of him despite his calm appearance as he rose to stand face to face with her. "So Miss Stadfelt do you have questions?" She reacted on instinct, in hindsight probably not the best idea at the time.

She felt the familiar weight of the pouch in her hand, It was surprising that no one noticed the blade slide out before she had the blade against the princes throat. The knights around her tensed, taking half a step forward before the prince waved them back to there positions. It was impressive in a way how even as she felt a trickle of his blood roll down the blade onto her hand his expression remained confident.

"Why the hell should I trust you?" Her anger only grew when he smirked at her outburst. Twisting the blade slightly she drew out a shadow of a wince but the smirk remained.

"You asked that question once before, my answer now is the same as then. You shouldn't, trust is something that is earned and I have yet to earn your trust." It was amazing what a little bit of information can do. Just a few days ago, no a few minutes ago, when he said those words she felt that had would change the world, now he seemed like the snake in the garden of eden.

"Fine, then why should I help you use the Japaneses?" She couldn't help but hope he had a good answer or the were both going to die. His smirk finally vanished and some part of her regretted it feeling that his reason would leave her ashamed of her current actions.

"Lower your blade and I shall show you my reason for fighting." It was his eyes, the same as before, that gave away his true emotions. Not his voice, not his face, not even his posture but his eyes.

"Fine, show me your reason." The blade suddenly felt a thousand time heavier than it had before. It was somewhat satisfying to watch him wipe the blood from his throat, even if she died she would at least die knowing she was one of the few people in the world to draw blood from the Brittanian royal family.

Turing from her he took the handkerchief Roland held out pressing it to the cut on his throat. She tensed as he reached into his desk drawer and pulled something out. He was going to shoot her and she was dumb enough to let it happen. He must have seen her because his smirk was back when he turned stuffing an object into his pocket.

"Expecting me to pull a gun? Just as I told Miss Nu I will not kill someone in this house where my sister might learn of it. The evils of this world have taken enough from her, it will not take her smile as well." It was surprising to say the least, if he was who he claimed to be that meant he had already killed a member of his family, why would he care about the feelings of an other. "Now please follow me." Without an other word walked from the room pausing only a moment for her to follow. At the door she turned expecting the others to follow but they remained seated in silence until the old knight spoke.

"Miss Villeta perhaps you should go as well" Without an other word the two hurried down the hall after Lelouch, they soon found him standing leaning against an open door, it was strange the anger and pride that seemed to surround him vanished and he appeared as nothing more then overwhelmed boy.

Before they could speak he rose a finger to his lips signaling them to be silent before pointing at the rooms soul occupant. A young girl slept peacefully in her bed, a small sound escaped her throat when she noticed the wheel chair his previous words echoing in her memory. 'the evils of this world have taken enough from her' was the reason linked to her injury? He closed the door before he spoke again in hushed tones.

"Does my sister deserve to die?" The woman next to her flinched almost as much as her when she heard the question. The barely contained anger was easy to see on his face. It was the woman next to her who responded first.

"Why would anyone wish harm to a princess of Brittanina?" Kallen almost hit the woman for her stupidity. She could think of a few dozen people who would wish for nothing more then to kill a princess, and clearly so did Lelouch because a dark smile appeared on his face as he pulled out the object he had stuffed into his pocket earlier.

"Do you know what this is?" It was a deck of cards, but what drew her attention was the smell that drifted off of them. It was a smell she would recognize until she died. It was a mixture of blood, smoke, sweat, and gunpowder; the scent of the battlefield.

"Thats a target deck, Brittania gives those to soldiers before a campaign so they can identify prisoners in the field." Villeta responded with the quick and well trained reflex of a soldier.

"Correct, it is just like Brittania to turn murder into a game isn't it? But this deck is a unique one handed out to a elite few" Kallen felt shiver run down her spine as she stared the deck. Some part of her tried desperately to deny the thought forming in her mind.

"You don't mean..." And the feeble attempt to deny the truth failed with one look at his face as his smile grew even darker as he drew the top three cards from the deck and showed the faces printed on them.

"Your thoughts are correct Miss Stadfeld. The answer to the question I asked earlier in regards to my sister, does she deserve to die, my father would believe she does." Even in with the poor lighting of the hallway she saw him trembling with rage. A moment later the calm mask was back.

"Not only that, I have earned my own death most likely for throwing away my title for the sake of my sister. Roland earned his fate when he asked to accompany us to Japan regardless of the lies he told to allow it." The intensity of the stare he gave her was unnerving. "So Miss Stadfeld does my reason suffice?" All she could do was nod like the idiot she felt like. "Good then lets go back to the others, we have work to discuss."

That meeting had been close to three weeks ago.

Kallen still felt ashamed about questioning his reasons for fighting. But watching him from across the warehouse she couldn't help but think about an important fact, he was using the Japanese.

Tearing her eyes from him to look across the room she saw the masked Roland, or wisdom as they had been instructed to call him, running the others through basic combat drills. Lelouch was turning their terrorist group into an army, one with a basic training program and standard uniform.

"I still can't believe he had a place like this." Turning she saw Ohgi approach, in his officers uniform, with Inoue and the others. "Kallen did he tell you anything about this?"

"Why do you think I would know something?" She sounded defensive, worse she knew she sounded defensive.

"Well we just noticed that you, Zero, and those other three are together a lot." Inoue spoke in an apologetic tone "and he did contact us through you."

"Sorry I didn't mean to snap" Stopping only to check over her shoulder to see if Zero was in earshot. "Well I do know a little, he got this place from noble who owed him a lot of money"

"Owed him money? How much?" The concern was apparent on Ohgi's face. Pitting him she leaned in towards the group and whispered.

"I'm not supposed to say anything but from what I hear he tends to use nobles as his private bank account with all the gambling he does. Thats how he got this place, he traded the guys debt for the deed to this place."

"And the money he's using to allow us to fight full time, did that come from the same place?" Kallen looked over at Zero just in time to see him start heading her direction.

"Probably, now if you'll excuse me there is something I need to ask him." Kallen met him half way across the room, he spoke first.

"Kallen would you indulge me with a moment of your time?" Nodding she followed him into the office that he had claimed as his own. With a wave of his hand he signaled her to sit down, a moment later he took his own seat across the desk. They sat in silence for a moment. The silence was broken when he removed his mask setting it on the desk between them. "It's amazing isn't it?"

"Huh?"

"The mask. I doubt there are more then a handful who still see this as one. To the others, probably most of them this mask has become my face."

"I guess it has hasn't it" Lelouch sitting across from her without the mask just seemed wrong. It was like some one had tried to doctor a photo and done so poorly. Zero had become his own person in her eyes with out her ever knowing it.

She remembered when he first put on the costume, no the uniform of Zero, to introduce the persona to those of his inner circle.

The moment she saw him standing there in the full getup for the first time she almost laughed, Charlotte did. The former knight even made a crack about a cape. Lelouch had brushed it off saying that a cape would have been a little much. Now, no one would laugh at it now.

The uniform was black trimmed in silver. The overcoat was cut in a style similar to that of Cornelia's Knights except for the bindings on the chest; they were reminiscent of the emperors. On his back he bore the standard he created for the order. The reasoning he gave was that if he was to bear the weight of the world on his back he should at least bear the standard he was going have men and women die for as well.

"Kallen do you have any questions?"

"Questions? Questions about what?" Her surprise was apparent, far more so then she would of liked. Lelouch only smiled, it was in that irritating manner he always did when amused. The way that made her blush like a fool.

"Relax you didn't miss anything. In fact the reason I asked for your time was so could finish the discussion we started when you put that knife to my throat."

"Why are.."

"Why am I giving you this chance to kill me again?" He smiled as he interrupted her " The answer is simple, you know far more then I would like and you are in a position in which you could easily kill me at any time you want. Taking this into consideration I figured it would be best if I answered any and all questions you have to prevent that from occurring. So if you have any questions now would be the time to ask them."

"Fine the lets start with this." Placing a black queen on the desk between them. "I found this in Shinjuku, It was sitting on the control panel of your knightmare." He reached out slowly, picking the piece up with his gloved hand. He spun it slowly, examining every feature before he spoke.

"Its quite simple really, this is how I relieve the burden of command."

"the burden of command?"

"Yes, if I were to think of those under my command as the people they are I would hesitate to make the necessary orders."

"So this is how you justify throwing away people lives? Just pieces in a game?" Anger driving her to her feet. Rising to his own feet he glared at her.

"Ask any commander how they handle the responsibility of ordering men to their death, most will tell you to take solace in the fact that those who die did so that others may live. Others will tell you to keep your distance. I use chess pieces to keep that distance but the fact remains that their blood is still on my hands!"

"So the end justifies the means?" She watched as he fell back into his chair to regain his composure.

"There is a lesson I learned a long time ago playing chess against Roland." She sat when she was the distant look on his face. "When you try to get everyone out alive all you end up doing is getting everybody killed. Once I learned that concept I have never lost a game. That same principle applies to true to real combat. Sacrifices are sometimes necessary, anyone who tells you different is a naive fool."

"Fine, I'll accept that." From the corner of her eye she saw him give her a questioning glance, but seeing her expression she was glad he didn't press the point. Images of old fights filled her head. She lost count of how many times some one chose to stay behind so the rest of them could escape. "why the Japanese?"

"They are the only ones who can make my dream a reality."

"That's it? That's the only reason you are going to help us?"

"there is an other reason but that is irrelevant"

"You said you were going to answer my questions, so why are you avoiding the answer?" The glare he shot her was even angrier then the previous. It was short lived because he soon turned his head looking away from her. Even tho she was smiling her face didn't show it, she had found his weak spot. Anything that allowed a person to know what kind of person he truly was would have to be forced out of him.

"I made a promise to a friend. A friend that is no longer in this world. I will say nothing more on the subject."

"What was the promise?" He didn't answer. Instead he just sat staring at the wall. "Fine, I'll trust you with our dreams. But know this." The sudden coldness of her voice surprised even her. "If you do anything that will cause the Japanese people to suffer, I sear I will kill you." His reaction made her recoil in her seat. He turned to look at her with a pure and genuine smile on is face. "Why are you smiling?! I just threatened to kill you!"

"True, but that was only if I did something to cause the Japanese to suffer. Even attack dogs have someone holding their leash." turning his smile only grew wider. "But more importantly you said you entrust me with your dreams." That made her face burn, but before she could stutter a reply there was a panicked knock at the door.

"Zero! We have a problem!" Before she could scramble to her feet he was already half-way across the room, mask set firmly in place. Looking over his shoulder, as he tore to door open, she saw Ohgi sweating across from him.

"What's the problem?"

"Well.. This." Turning pointed at the bound woman behind him surrounded by a ring of armed black knights, their weapons trained on the woman. "The Britannians have found us, we think we caught her before she could signal the others but, what should we do?"

"I say we kill this Britannian bitch! That's what they would do to us!" Tamaki's shout drew numerous cries of agreement.

"You fools! Release her at once!" Zero's voice echoed of the walls as the warehouse fell silent.

"But, she's a Britannian!"

"She is one of my spies! Now lower your weapons!" He looked about the room in the following silence. When no one moved his anger only grew. "LOWER YOUR WEAPONS NOW!" Lowering their weapons they took a few hesitant steps away from their enraged masked leader. Walking forward towards the retreating group he fell to a knee next to the bound woman, personally removing her bindings. Rising to his feet he offered her his hand, pausing to rub her wrists she took the offered hand. "I apologize for their actions, but that aside what _are_ you doing here miss Nu?"

"What you've been waiting for is about to happen." She paused to glare at the soldiers gathered around her. "Cornelia is preparing a trap for you just as you expected. She plans to draw you out using one of the ghettos. Her belief is that you will see it for what it is, a challenge directed at you personally."

"Good which ghettos does she plan to use?"

"I don't know, but I have the target data" placing a flash drive into his hand "They plan on using one of these locations. Orange should still be at the meeting so he'll have more accurate data. He sent me just in case he couldn't get the information out later, but I do have one piece of information I know to be confirmed."

"What is it?"

"The operation time, its in two days." The silence was deafening, no one spoke as they realized what was about to come. But then Zero started to laugh, it was small at first but soon it grew.

"This is perfect! I was beginning to think I was going to be forced to make the first move but this makes things so much simpler! Black Knights rejoice! For in two days time we declare war on Britannia! We shall crush Cornelia and her knights and the world shall know our strength!" Kallen watched from the shadows, She watched as Zero turned fear into excitement, doubt into confidence, and she watched as he turned despair into hope. In the end she realized he was the only one who could do one more thing, turn their dreams into reality.

Cornelia sat upon her throne watching her troops scurry about her command deck. Things were going exactly as she planned. She publicly announced the closure of the Saitama ghetto to the media just as Clovis did prior to Shinjuku. Knightmares held the secure perimeter trapping the local terrorist forces along with their civilian supporters. The conditions mirrored those of Shinjuku exactly; all that remained was for Zero to show himself.

"Princess Cornelia do you truly believe that Zero will show himself?" Guilford spoke from his place beside her.

"You saw the same footage as I did," Her mind wandered back to the damaged video they had salvaged from the remains of Clovis's command vehicle. "This _'Zero'_ personally came to execute my brother, he will be unable to resist this chance to repeat his previous victory. Even if he has an ounce of egotism he will come to kill me"

"Of course Princess." Guilford left her to her thoughts. They were no doubt replaying the scenes of Prince Clovis's death. The footage, the little they could recover, was unnerving to say the least, they had proof this man was capable of walking right past elite royal guards and assassinating a member of the royal family. Even though he had absolute confidence in the abilities of his princess he could not help but feel nervous. If Zero were to reach the Princess he would show no mercy. While they were mercifully spared from watching they still heard Zero kill Clovis in cold blood, even as he begged for his life.

"Princess Cornelia, reports indicate 25 of the ghetto has been pacified. Low level resistance from the Yamado terrorist group, so far no signs of Zero." Darltons deep voice rumbled from across the room.

"Good continue the operation." Listening closely Guilford heard his princess whisper under her breath "Zero are you not coming?" before he could reasure his princess a confused sound drew his attention back to the strategic map. "What it is it?" Startled the soldier looked up fear etched into his face.

"Nothing your highness!"

"Tell me what it was and let me decide if it was nothing." The irritation was clear in her voice.

"Of course your highness I meant no disrespect."

"Enough groveling! Tell me what you saw!" The soldier retreated a step.

"Ah yes, its just that the forces at the northern checkpoint appeared out of position for a moment. They are now current back in the correct position."

"Thats all? It truly was nothing then, have that unit marked down for disciplinary action after the battle is over."

"Yes your highness!"

Pausing to adjust the bag on his shoulder Ohgi stepped out of the shadows toward the terrorists, Tamaki and a few others on his heels. The sudden movement drawing the aim of the terrorists weapons.

"Who the hell are you" Hesitating for only a moment he stepped forward from the group holding a walkie-talkie up for the others to see.

"The Black Knights would like to propose an alliance. Follow our orders and this will be a repeat of Shinjuku. Disobey and we leave your fate to Cornelia. What is your decision?"

"Don't screw with us" One of the soldier bellowed stepping forward to strike him with the but of his weapon. Ohgi reacted with on the training Zero had forced them to take. Part of him was grateful, before he would have stepped back and taken the beating. Now he stepped forward delivering a series of rapid strikes into the mans chest knocking him to the ground, the mans gun now in his hands aimed at the terrorists head. Some part of him finally realized that he no longer considered himself a terrorist but a soldier.

"What is your decision?" Heart pounding in his chest he held out the radio again to the now terrified terrorists. From the corner of his eye he noticed that the others had their weapons drawn all of them mirror images of the others.

"We.. we accept your offer, what do you want us to do?" His eyes suddenly darted to the radio as a voice came answered him.

"Wise decision, Ohgi give the men their equipment." Reaching in to the bag at his feet Ohgi pulled out a Britannian uniform. "Here is what I want you and your men to do."

Inside her Knightmare looked at their leader leaning over her shoulder. His fingers danced on the keyboard highlighting different sections of the map and pulling up random files faster then anyone could possibly read.

"Why do you have to be in my Knightmare?" Sliding away from she tried to make her self smaller.

"I need access to a monitor and the radio network"

"I know that! Just why does it have to be mine?" The look he gave her made her want to blush, a moment later it was replaced by a smirk that made her want to smash his skull against the side of cockpit.

"Of the people who know my face you are the only one not tasked to another command, besides all the other frames are tasked else ware."

"You could have taken a frame for yourself, as a commander you could do that you know."

"Now where's the fun in that?" This time she did hit him. "Besides for the finale I have planned I can't use a knightmare. P-1 through P-5 head to point A-5."

"Thats it? Thats all you are going to say?"

"Yes, Now R-1 R-2 draw them towards N-5, N-4 when you have to shot take it."

"Hello! Zero! This is the lovely lady virtue here, reporting that the western bridge is taken care of. Cornelia's reinforcements are now cut off."

"Good" A savage smile grew on his lips "Now then shall I draw Cornelia out or create an opening for my self?" Kallen found herself afraid of Lelouch and not for the first time.

"We've lost Jester's signal! Reading multiple enemy units at two o'clock!" Cornelia watched the chaos unfold in front of her, an indifferent expression on her face. A moment later an other soldier turned shouting the loss of an other knightmare squad. "It appears that the enemy is capturing our sutherlands and using them against us your highness!"

"Its this zero then?" Guilford tensed at her side, his head turning just far enough to hear the murmurs coming from the officers.

"It just like Shinjuku." Beside her the gentle cracks of Guilfords tightening fist reached her ears. No doubt a single thought was on his mind, that this not end the same.

"Your highness western checkpoint reports the bridge at point R-7 has been destroyed. All units have been lost!" This was all that she needed, this was truly the work of zero. With a smile on her face she set her plan in motion.

"Well thats enough of that. Order all units to fall back. There is no point in increasing our casualties."

"What we're retreating? But we can still fight!"

"No, you can't. Not now." failing to keep the pitying tone from her voice she scolded her officers.

"All units with draw to the entrance to the ghetto."

"There retreating?"

"No" with a smirk on his face he turned to face his shocked pilot. "Cornelia would never do something so spineless."

"Then what is she doing?"

"Simple, she's playing to my ego. Knowing that we posses her frames with access to her radio network she's chosen to invite me into a trap."

"How do you know?" Looking at her he couldn't help but smile. Reaching out with one arm he pointed at the screen.

"At this point here, still inside the ghetto, we would be in effective combat range of her royal guard and her command center." A small chuckle filled the cockpit. "I came personally to kill Clovis, now she is tempting me to try again." Picking up the radio he smiled. "Lets see how she reacts to this. N-1, reactivate your transponder and act like a Britannian soldier."

He averted his eyes, there was no need to watch the monitor. He knew what was about to happen. Kallens reaction confirmed it.

"They just killed him! He said he was one of theirs and they killed him! Why would they do that?"

"Are you really that surprised? This is Britannia we are talking about. They probably justified it his death with he wasn't following orders."

"Would they really?"

"They would, now on to other matters. Take care of me Kallen, my life is in your hands."

Surprised her head whipped in his direction and in the confines of the placing her face mere inches from his own. Retreating from the cockpit he hoped he got his mask on before she saw his face redden. She was cute when surprised.

Standing on the palm of Kallens knightmare he looked at the squad that surrounded him. The jet black sutherlands that were the core of his forces. Raising one arm above his head he readied his troops.

"Black Knights move out!" There was no turning back now. He and his Honor guard were going to meet Cornelia and her force face to face.

"Your Highness! We have five enemy contacts heading this direction. Bringing up visual now!" Guilford's head snapped around at the report, this was the first time an enemy transponder had been active. A moment later the screen flickered and brought about an image he couldn't believe. Five black sutherlands were moving in formation completely unarmed with the exception of one who carried a long cloth wrapped object. But it was the center unit which caught his attention. For on its hand stood man dressed in black, a man who could only be Zero.

"Ho you are more arrogant then I thought Zero. Have all units hold there fire, lets see what the fool wants before we kill him." Guilford swallowed his retort. He had no right to question the princess even if what she was doing was beyond foolish.

"Princess Cornelia I would like to make you an offer. One which I hope you will accept." Zeros voice came through, amplified by the knightmare upon which he rode. Behind him he heard the soft click of a switch.

"Zero since this will be your last request I shall hear your offer before I kill you for the murder of my brother prince Clovis. Speak now so I may begin your execution."

"The Black Knights offer you this chance to surrender Cornelia, you have no chance of winning this battle." Beside him Dalton questioned Zeros sanity, and to his rear Cornelia began to laugh. Around the room countless others were doing the same. It seemed only he was afraid.

"Surrender?! Are you mad? HA its you who have no chance of winning! All units take aim!"

Pulling of his helmet Ohgi watched the scene unfold. It was happening almost exactly as Zero had predicted. Around him helmets fell to the ground as their owners moved to get a better view.

"That is a shame Cornelia but you can not say I did not give you the chance." At Zeros words Ohgi squeezed the detonator in his hands and watched the world explode to the delight of every one around him. Only Valor stood with his helmet in place, ever silent despite the celebration around him.

The knightmares Cornelia had ordered to retreat were reduced to scrap. There was no other fate considering how much explosives his squad had just finished placing at their feet.

Guilford tries desperately to stand as the world rocked beneath his feet and fire surrounded them. Soldiers and officers alike were sent spiraling from post. Some were sent crashing into walls, others into consoles which they manned. Watching, his princess was sent flying from her throne landing a few feet from his person.

Before he could recover a lance tore through the command deck, tearing through flesh and steel like tissue paper. He didn't understand why the ground was racing up to strike him in the face until after his body was racked with pain. Blood blinded one eye as he watched the others come spilling out of the gapping wound in the command center. His heart stopped as he watched his princess tumble to the ground a few yards from him.

Fighting his own body he forced himself to roll over. Dragging himself forward he tried to find his Princess. Dragging himself over the severed arm of sutherland he finally saw his princess laying on the ground, what he saw almost made him scream.

Zero stood over his Princess, looking at her as if judging the value of a piece of equipment. Helpless he watched as Zero knelt beside her. She turned away refusing to look at him. Reaching down he forced her head back his direction, leaning down to say something the Guilford was to faraway to hear.

A moment later Zero stood pausing to point, his hand the shape of a gun. He stood there for a second but it felt like an eternity. Tears in his eyes Guilford watched as Zero twitched his hand and walked away, once more standing on the hand of his soldier knightmare. He had failed to protect his princess, even though Zero had spared her life this day would haunt him forever. The only reason his princess still drew breath was because of the mercy of the enemy, there could be no greater shame for a knight.

Force him self to his feet Guilford staggered to his princess's side, collapsing the moment he reached her. Reaching out he brushed the blood soaked hair from her face.

"Guilford.. radio for a recovery team." her voice was weak, lacking the confident authority it always possessed.

"Surely the perimeter forces heard the blast, they should have already called for one. I need to tend to your wounds first." Her lips bent into a slight smile as she heard him.

"No they haven't, they are already dead. That flicker when the northern team was out of position, that was him. Thats was Zero eliminating the security point. This whole time we believed we had him surrounded, but he had us." Understanding what she meant Guilford averted his eyes, he had no right to be in her presence. Even now as his princess gave him an order he was unable to comply. His body was no longer obeying his wishes. "It was magnificent in its own way wasn't it?"

"What was?" Before his eyes his princess smiled at his foolishness. With a slight nod of her head she pointed above him. Turning he saw it. The lance that tore threw the command deck, only it wasn't a lance. It was a flag. The standard of the Black Knights fluttered gently in the breeze, impaled directly through the crest of the Britannian royal family.

"Zero's declaration of war." Her words were the last thing he heard as he fell unconscious.

_It occurs to me that I should as for reviews this time_

_Does my style suck?_

_am I screwing up the characters? _

_Is my story too generic?_

_Should I keep writing this story or am I just posting crap?_

* * *


	8. Witch

"So you were defeated, and quite thoroughly I might add." A rumbling voice from the doorway caught Cornelia's attention. Her face twisted in irritation, or at least as far as the bandages and swelling would allow.

"Brother Noah, What reason brings the shining knight of Britannia to my area?" her tone was harsh and glare respectable considering her condition.

"I came to attend my sister's funeral, but it seems that is no longer necessary."

"My funeral?!" Her shout echoed along the hospital halls met only by silence. Wincing she fell back onto the bed casting a glare that would make any man shiver but the one before her. "Do you have so little confidence in my abilities?"

"On the contrary dear sister it was not that I doubted your abilities, I just believed Zero's to be superior to your own." He cut of her retort with a lopsided smile " And it seems that my estimate was correct. Well things could have been far worse."

"Worse? How could things be worse?! Zero has turned me into walking symbol of his strength just like he planed!"

"Things could be worse." His fingers gently traced the intricate design that ran the length of the mask that covered the left side of his face. " You could have ended up dead, or worse with a face like mine." The lopsided smile still on his face he finished tracing the thin scar that shot out from under the mask across the bridge of his nose ending at his jaw. "Besides what makes you think Zero planed this? What makes you believe that it wasn't just a whim on his part?"

"He told me so." Leaning back into the bed she brought her hand to her face. The sensation of his hand still lingered. She had never felt more helpless than at that moment. "That bastard told me I was going to carry his message with every step that I take."

"What was his message?" Noah's voice was far softer than it had been. It was clear to him he was treading upon a sensitive subject. She couldn't help but allow her lips to twitch into a small smile; Noah had not earned the name Shining knight for nothing.

" I have no need to kill you for you are already dead to the world. Whenever some one sees you they shall see me, and they shall know there exists one who can defeat Britannia." She paused; his next words were what wounded her pride the most for they were true. . "You shall be the herald of my strength, every step you take shall be forever in my shadow. Your strength exists only to glorify my own. The era of the invincible empire has come to an end princess, and it is you who brought it to an end."

"My what a complex message! How did you remember such a longwinded speech?!" Laughter lived in Noah's words holding her sorrow at bay.

"He was a lot like father." Noah's laughter left him, comparing anyone to father was a serious matter and mentioning that was all it took to have his undivided attention. From the look in his eye it was possible the rest of the world had ceased to exist for him.

"How was this fool anything like the Emperor?" His eye was harder then steel and his voice echoed with hidden rage.

"He has fathers pride, he openly mocks his enemies as he crushes them with overwhelming strength. From his tactics he rivals father in intelligence as well, I fear he may even be a match for brother schniezle. Yet the way he is most like father is his presence. I was afraid of him before he even spoke; all he had to do was stand there to make me feel fear."

"I see" Balancing on the back legs of his chair Noah stared at the ceiling, searching for the answers to his questions. "This makes him a far more dangerous opponent then I thought."

"How so? "

"If what you say is true then zero controls something far more dangerous then the flow of battlefield, He controls the morale of all who stand upon it."

"Morale is a powerful force I'll admit that, but to say it is more important then the flow of battle if foolish. More importantly to say zero controls the morale is giving him far more power then he truly has."

"Never underestimate morale sister, even you have seen its effects on the battlefield first hand. But it has always been you who has controlled it, striking fear into the hearts of the enemy or steeling the resolve of your own forces. But in any future engagements Zero shall hold that power. _You shall be the herald of my strength_ arrogant as his is, he is not wrong. Your men will be afraid just as you were and those that follow him know he has already beaten you."

"What you say is irritatingly true brother so can we shift this conversation to something else?" He consented with a reassuring smile.

"Of course sister, as you wish." Hiding her smile she watched him twist his face in mock thought, massaging his temple with his off hand as he often did when playing the fool for Lelouch and Nunnally so long ago. "I see this still makes you smile after all these years."

"What makes me smile Noah is someone as smart as you pretending to think so hard; but since you you mention it, it has been a few years since we last met face to face."

"It's been two years since we last met, three years since I've seen Euphy. Now I have one very important question after all this time." He paused long enough for her to raise an eyebrow before leaping to his feet and striking a pose. "How do I look?" Cornelia smiled inside, it was an old game with them. Noah was in his own way trying to remind her words can strike an enemy just as well as a sword.

Cornelia looked at him carefully searching for an opening. In war of words Noah had always held an advantage and since he was giving her an opening this time she would have to land her strike carefully.

Casting an appraising eye his direction she examined him for weak points. In the years they had been apart he had changed little if at all. He still carried him self with pride. His body just as fit as it had been before. His raven hair still hung past his shoulders in that unkempt way it always had. The uniform was the same as always, cut in the style of the rounds which he once aspired to join prior to the imperial family taking him in as one of their own. There was only one opening which she could exploit, she just had to maneuver him the right way.

"You look the same brother."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Before she could land her strike on his ego Noah was tackled by a flash of pink that knocked the wind from him.

"Noah nii-sama!" Shocked Noah stared at the mass of pink hanging from his neck. It took hims a full 3 seconds to process what had happened and identify who the mass of pink was. With a laugh he lifted the princess into a crushing bear hug that left her feet dangling a foot above the floor.

"Euphy! Its been far to long!" Dropping the girl back to the ground he stepped back to give the girl a appraising look. "You're growing into a beautiful young woman. It brings great joy to my heart to see you doing so well." Euphemia looked up at the man with a thoughtful expression that would melt anyones heart.

"Your hair still looks like a wet dog" Staggering backwards Noah clutched at his chest as if he had been shot. The chair groaned as his weight came crashing down shoulders sagging as he sulked.

"Euphy! How can you be so cruel?!" Laughing she hugged him from behind. Finally looking around the room she noticed something.

"Huh? Onee-sama wheres Guilford? I thought he would be here."

"He was" She smiled at the thought. He had walked in wearing his uniform over his bandages insisting he was fine and that the doctors had already cleared him for active duty. "I had the nurses drag him back to his own room shortly before you two arrived, and since Euphy brought up the matter of Knights when did you choose one Noah?" Glancing at the soldier that stood at the doorway.

"Knight?" Turning to follow her gaze Noah's eyes rested on the soldier "Oh Curtis! He's not my knight. Considering what happened to you my men felt I should no go anywhere without an escort. Since then they have taken it upon themselves to organize a security watch on their own time." With a grim smile he added something unexpected. "But since your defeat I'll admit I considered taking a knight my self."

"Eh?! Nii-sama considered taking a knight? Is Zero really that dangerous?" Noah and Cornelia could only offer her worried stares.

"Euphy, Noah is right to worry, and since we are on the topic its about time you should choose a knight as well."

"Ah yes! That is one of the reasons I came here today. Curtis! Bring me that folder!" Shouting to the soldier in the hallway before passing it to Cornelia. "This folder contains a list of soldiers I considered taking as a knight, but I would feel better if one of these were tasked to protect Euphy instead."

"If they were good enough for you they should be fine to protect Euphy. Wait.. there nothing but combat records and performance scores here, why is there no information about who they are?"

"These are not all nobles, some are commoners. I believe that in this situation the abilities are far more important then breeding."

"Very well, when it comes to protecting Euphy from Zero I'll yield this point." Flipping through the files she stopped when one caught her eye. "This one, His abilities far exceed the others and his battle record is impressive. Knightmare abilities seem acceptable as well. Euphy any of these would be acceptable but this one shall make the best knight, but the choice is still yours."

"Number 7? I wonder what he is like?"

"Euphy I have a more detailed file if you would like to read it to help your decision."

"Could I meet him first before I make my decision?" The question made him smile.

"Of course Euphy, If he is to be your knight you should at least like the man. By the way that was the one I was considering" Standing Noah offered his arm. "Lets go arrange a meeting shall we?" Hesitating Euphemia looked to her sister for permission.

"Go Euphy, this is an important matter. Noah make sure he is acceptable for the post." With that said Cornelia leaned back in her bed with a sigh and watched them walk away.

Lelouch froze at the door way to his office, his inner circle following at his heel. Inside his own base this was the last thing he could possibly expect.

"You've been busy boy" The soft voice came from the green haired woman sitting behind his desk, the light from the computer monitor highlighting her features. Leaning back in his chair she rested her legs on the desk. "You know for some one with such a flair for the dramatic" spinning the monitor around to show the leaked footage from his week old battle with Cornelia "you are annoyingly difficult to find." Suddenly Lelouch felt the familiar sensation of Ohgi looking over his shoulder.

"Zero what is it? Why did you stop?"

"Ohgi this meeting will be postponed, it seems an important matter has come up that requires my attention." His remark only triggered a sarcastic remark from the rooms' occupant.

"Oh you're canceling a meeting for my sake, well I suppose that is to be expected since I am your promised person."

"Wait this chick is Zero's woman? I got to see this!" Tamaki's desperate lunge around the others was stopped short as Zero stepped into his path.

"She is not my woman"

"Well who is she then?" He had expected the comment to come from Tamaki or Charlotte, thank god she wasn't here, but not from Kallen.

"That is what I intend to find out." Without another word he stepped into the office and slammed the door in their faces. Refusing to yield to the woman he sat on the sofa that sat to one side of the office not the chair in front of the desk. The action had the intended result of forcing the woman to change her position to face him.

"Are you sure you want to claim such a petty victory boy?"

"A victory is a victory petty or not. Now to..."

"Are you sure it's your victory?" The remark forced to raise a questioning eyebrow beneath his mask. Watching her spin the chair his direction he wondered how it had not been his victory no matter how minor it was. A moment later the answer was made apparent as she curled her legs against her chest and kept spinning. It was such a tiny act of defiance that was made all the more irritating when she did nothing more then stare at him with her golden eyes, the rest of her face hidden by her legs. "take off that mask, I already know your face"

"Very well." Yielding to her request he removed the mask placing it on the couch beside him. "As I was about to ask.."

"Do you like it?" Her interruption drew a small twitch of annoyance that did not go unnoticed. "The power I gave you."

"So it was you that gave it to me. In that case I am in your debt, it has sped up my timetable significantly."

"Sped up? How so? Because from what I have seen of your actions thus far you haven't used much at all in your current actions." A dark laugh filled the room drawing a questioning look from the woman, the first new expression since the conversation had begun.

"I have little need to use it in combat, I'm not foolish enough to put my self in a situation that I forced to use it. The troops I've assembled are of sufficient quality that they alone are what I need to achieve my goals."

"If you have so little use for it then why did you say it sped up timetable?"

"That's simple," Leaning forward he made sure he had the woman undivided attention before he continued. "Logistics, in the last few weeks I've made more progress building my army then I have in the previous seven years. The funding for the troops, the weapons we now wield, the Knightmares, even this very base were provided thanks to this geass you have provided me."

"Geass?"

"That's what you called it when we made our contract if I remember correctly."

"It is" She eyed him carefully as if to measure his abilities. "Are you sure you are acting wisely with your power, There are limitations."

" I am well aware of the limitations of my power, after Shinjuku I tested them extensively to astern its specifications. Despite it's flaws it is a very effective tool which you have given me."

"As I thought, you are an interesting man"

"I'll take you opinion under advisement but now for a more important topic. Who are you?"

"CC"

"Thats not what I meant and you know it. You should"

"Be dead?"

"That is a topic for an other time, but once again I'm forced to ask the question who are you?" The question seemed to serve no purpose beyond amusing the woman for she simply turned to look over her shoulder.

"I told you I'm CC" Her tone made it clear to him she would speak no further on the subject. That in it self was irritating, but the way she spoke to him was so condescending; as if she were lecturing a child infuriated him. He could have her dragged out back and shot, not that it would do any good, it would at least make him feel better.

"What are you going to do now? The army is after you." Searching the room he listened half-heartedly, most of his attention was focused on locating the source of familiar scent.

"Only a portion of it, and a small one at that. It was made even smaller because of your actions." Only some small part at the back of his mind heard her, much less understood them. The box she had just placed on his desk held his full attention.

"Please tell me you didn't have a pizza delivered here." Had he not been terrified about the possibility of losing his base he would have found the look she gave him attractive.

"How foolish do you think I am? Of course I didn't, I had it delivered to your home."

"My home!? What the hell were you doing there?"

"Your bed is quite comfortable, did you know that?" Meeting his eyes she licked a dash of pizza sauce from her finger in a way that could only be described as seductive. His face burned as lewd thoughts filled his head which appeared to be exactly what she was waiting for. "Oh my, what sort of dirty thoughts are you thinking? After all you'll be sleeping on the floor."

"Why would I be sleeping on the floor?"

"It's common sense for a gentleman to give up the bed for a lady" She had look on her face like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Taking a deep breath he readied to launch into a tirade only to stopped as an empty pizza box struck him in the chest. Shocked he picked the box up and stared at it. Perhaps for the first time in his life he found himself unable to think, though thankfully she made sure it was short lived "another"

"Get your own! I am not your delivery boy!"

"Then send the stupid one" Anger forced him to his feet, one hand clenched the box and the other hovered over his sidearm. Yet all she did was stare at him with the same look of indifference she had before. Box in hand he stormed out of the room sliding the mask in place, best he leave the room before he did something he would regret. A few paces out the door he nearly plowed into Kallen.

"So who is she?" Staring at the worried red head next to him he struggled to find the appropriate words to describe the woman. Before he could find a satisfactory response CC stuck her head out the door.

"I want pepperoni this time"

Turning he stared at the woman who had just trigged a death grip on his sidearm. How dare she mock him in front of his troops. At the edge of his vision he saw Tamaki attempting to hide his smile and doing so poorly.

"Heh, sounds like Zero's woman got him whipped"

The rage boiled in his veins and just as he was about to lose control it happened, a moment of perfect clarity. The tension flowed away like water. The sudden change in posture caused Kallen to take a nervous step back, she had been around him long enough to realize what it meant; he had a plan. With an unseen smile his whipped the box into Tamaki's face.

"She is not my woman. She is an asset for an other operation I'm currently working on." Smiling he thought about the chaos he was about to create. "Her code is Witch, make sure you call her that since she will be in charge of you for the time being."

The look on Tamaki's face alone made it worth it and the best was yet to come. Walking away with Kallen at his side he quickened his pace when he heard Tamaki kick the door open.

"That was cruel Lelouch, no matter what she did she didn't deserve to have Tamaki sicked on her." Stopping he tilted his head to listen for what he knew was coming. Almost on cue Tamaki's voice echoed through the base.

"What the hell did you just say?!"

Finding themselves a suitable distance from the others he pulled the mask off to throw an evil smile to the redhead next to him. He noted the small smile on her own face before sitting down to look at the night sky.

"Trust me, those two deserve each other." Taking her own seat next to him Kallen gave him a questioning look.

"You know they are going to make you pay for this"

"Tamaki wouldn't dare, CC is an other matter. But that is something for an other time."

"CC?"

"That was the name she gave me. An obvious fake, but I feel she can be trusted"

"More then me?" Looking at her he carefully chose his words.

"Thus far I have told her nothing. Everything she knows about me and the order she figured out on her own, if you take it in that regard I trust you far more then her."

"Then whats this operation your planing? Does it even really exist?" Lelouch could see the expectation in her eyes as she leaned forward waiting for him to explain.

"I don't know what the operation is she has yet to give me the specifics."

"Why would she know but not you?"

" She agreed to help me and in return I would grant her wish. That is the deal we made."

"Why would you make a deal like that?"

"It doesn't really matter, I already agreed to her terms and the help she has given has been invaluable."

"Is that all you are going to say about her?"

"There is nothing more to say, this is only the second time I've met the woman. You know now all that I know." He could see she didn't believe him. Sighing he slipped the mask back in place. "Come on, we still have a meeting to get to, not mention school tomorrow." The comment drew a wince from the woman.

"Don't remind me" Then she looked at him with a expression he couldn't quite place. "What are you hiding? I know everything else, what could be worse then being a prince?" Thats when he did something he figured he would regret he gave her an answer.

"Kallen, pray that you never find out."

* * *

_All right people I've got some questions for you_

_What do you think of Noah? At least considering what I have revealed about him so far, because I've yet to introduce his personal Knightmare or his sister. Now that I think about it I haven't touched his back story yet, some of that will come in the next chapter along with his Knightmare._

_How's the quality this time? Because personally I feel this chapter is lacking somewhat, at the very least I feel could have done better._

_Did this ch go to slow or did I try to cram to much into it? I just feel that I dragged the conversations out to long and tried to cover to many topics. _


	9. Milly

"I can't believe you sold me to the student council."

"It's been week already! How long are you going to keep throwing this in my face?" He said spinning to face the angry redhead following him. "Besides it could have been far worse."

"Three days ago I would have agreed with you on that Lelouch. But now I've met Milly and hence have been groped, fondled, and dressed as a French maid; I doubt what ever you had for a plan B could be worse."

"The only other thing I came up with was to tell her we were a couple."

"tch, like you could pull that off." Completely abandoning her sickly persona she moved forward stopping hairs breath from his body. Throwing a seductive glance that made his heart miss beat she smiled at his reddening face. "I'm way to much woman for you to handle." As she walked away from him he remembered one of the most basic rules of combat, turnabout is fair play.

Reaching out he pulled her into an embrace pinning her arms between them. Clearly caught of guard she didn't resist him, perhaps it better to describe it as she couldn't resist him do to shock. Tilting her head he gazed into her eyes, taking care to note the slowly spreading blush on her features. Slowly he moved his face towards hers watching her eyes grow wide as saucers as he did so. When he was close enough to feel the heat from her face he altered his course to the side, smirking at the slight tremble his breath on her neck caused before whispering in her ear.

"I think you'd be surprised with what I can handle." Pulling back the smirk only grew as Kallen's face turned an even darker shade of red. "Besides if I told Milly that we were a couple she be busy writing our wedding vows right now."

"Oh My God! I was hoping for some thing good but you give me this!" The sudden voice froze them where they stood. It couldn't be who he thought it was could it? Fate could never be so cruel as to let Milly find them at this exact moment. Then a sudden thought struck him making him break into a cold sweat. 'Did she hear me just now?'

"And here I would have settled for a picture of you two having a secret lunch together but you give me the holy grail of high school gossip!" Denial was in full swing as he finally forced himself to look at the person who wasn't Millay, couldn't possibly be Milly and found himself face to face with the one person a merciful god wouldn't have allowed to be there, Milly.

For perhaps the fourth time in his life Lelouch found himself unable to think, of anything useful or irrelevant. So he was forced to stand there helpless as Milly leered at the phone in her hands with a evil smile growing on her face. It was then that Kallen finally leapt into action. With a shriek she shoved her hands into his chest sending him tumbling down the shallow embankment and crashing into a passing student.

"Milly! Wait this isn't what it looks like!" A dazed Lelouch listened to Kallen wage a loosing battle. Every excuse she came up with was skillfully torn apart, the winner was apparent long before the fight ended. Untangling himself he managed to catch Kallen fall to her knees in defeat as Milly sprinted away clutching the phone as if it were a gift from god.

As he started to crawl up the embankment it occurred to him he should apologize to the other victim of Kallen's desperate actions. The words died before they ever reached his lips as he stared at the dead man he fell on. A thousand thoughts flooded his mind each of them trying to express themselves at the same time. It was the dead man who broke the silence between them.

"Lelouch?"

"Suzaku? But I saw you die!"

"I guess we have a lot to talk about then don't we?"

* * *

After consoling his girlfriend from whatever traumatic event just happened Lelouch had dragged him up to the rooftop. In a strange way it was comforting to know that even after all the years they had been apart Lelouch still liked to hold his secret meetings on the roof.

"I'm glad you're alright Lelouch"

"That's all thanks to you isn't it? If you hadn't taken that bullet for me.."

"I was just returning that favor from seven years ago. Oh, what about that girl? The one from the capsule?"

"We got separated in the confusion. Don't you know anything about her?"

"No, It looks like only group CA knew anything."

"I see" Silence filled the air and a thought slowly occurred to Suzaku. It would be just like him to forget something important, just by talking to him Lelouch was risking his reputation. If someone heard him call Lelouch the wrong name…

"Can I still call you Lelouch?" a small smile spread on his friends face.

"My old self is on record as being dead. My new name is Lelouch Lamperouge. By the way what happened after Shinjuku? How did you get enrolled here? The school has a tendency to only accepting pure bloods, it's nearly impossible for any one else to get in."

"I was surprised when I found out when I was going here too, and I never expected you to be here either Lelouch. There have been a lot of unexpected things in the last few days."

**Governor's office 3 days prior:**

"Private Kuruugi the Governor shall be with you shortly, until then please take a seat." With a courteous nod Suzaku did as he was told taking a seat in one of the twin chairs before the huge desk that dominated the room.

Looking about the room he was possessed with sensation that something was off. The room looked exactly like he thought it would in certain sense. Bookshelves lined the walls filled with books of various sizes and subjects. Beautiful paintings decorated the walls in manor that they all could be seen from the ornate desk that was the focal point of the room. It looked the exactly the same as every other Nobles office he had been in, but it still felt wrong.

Then it hit him it was the books. Every time he had been in a nobles' office the books had been on the shelves purely for decoration, untouched and in mint condition. Yet these books were different, each and every single book that he could see showed signs of repeated use. Titles were worn until they were barley legible, spines were bent and showed signs of coming undone, and there were even a few pages that stuck out at awkward angles clearly torn from the book. The books made it clear that they had been read countless time.

"I see that you have noticed the state my library Private Kuruugi." The suddenness of the deep voice forced him to attention. The speaker had approached within a few feet and he had never noticed, a feat made all the more impressive considering the mans size.

"I'm sorry My lord! I didn't notice you come in, I meant no disrespect."

"There is no need to apologize Private Kuruugi, you are not the first to miss my approach. It is a skill I have perfected long ago, but as I was saying you noticed the condition of my library not many do."

"I sorry My lord I didn't mean to pry I just." He relaxed a little as the man gave him a lopsided smile that made the mask on his face shift slightly forcing him to push it back into place.

"Take it as a complement Private, most enter here and never notice their surroundings; a major flaw considering the reason you have been brought here today. Out of curiosity do you know why you are here today?"

"No my lord, all I was told was to report for a meeting with the governor."

"That's was it?"

"Yes my lord"

"Then perhaps I can clear a few things up for you, but first let me introduce my self." The man rose and extended his hand, a moment later Suzaku found himself in a crushing handshake. "I am the Britannia's Shining Knight, Noah Di Britannia and the current governor of area 11; it is my great pleasure to inform you have selected as a candidate for a very important position."

"Important position?" Struggling to find the words to continue, he had been adressing a member of the royal family as 'my lord'. What was going to happen to for making such a mistake? His thoughts were silenced as the doors opened behind him. A moment later he blurted out the only thought he could form.

"Euphy? Why are you here?"

"Suzaku?" The two of them stared at each other with shocked expressions on their faces. Noah stood between them looking back and forth between the two of them, a smile growing on his face.

"Oh you two know each other? Then this makes things far similar then I thought." Turning to Suzaku Noah made a dramatic bow "May I introduce the third princess of Britannia, Euphemia li Britannia." Ignoring the confused stare the comment drew from Suzaku Noah turned to face Euphemia " and to you I introduce the candidate number 7 for your royal knight Private Kuruugi Suzaku"

"They made you a knight? That's impossible there is now way that Cornelia would allow a number to be Euphy's Knight!"

"Well the ceremony hasn't been held yet, but that's really just a formality. But I won't disagree with you, Cornelia did resist at first."

"At first? What happened to change her mind?" Lelouch had to admit had an idea about why she would allow it; but it was always dangerous to assume your enemies motives.

"There were two reasons I guess. The first would be Prince Noah insisted that Princess Euphemia chose a knight based on talent not breeding."

"Noah is here?!" Noah, the Shining knight of Britannia, one of the most dangerous individuals in all the empire. Why would the emperor send two of the empires three most skilled commanders to Japan at the same time? Was Cornelia more seriously injured then he thought?

"Yeah he is, were you and Nunnally close with him?" The sudden question interrupting his thoughts.

"Yeah…. We were close" The memories of Noah were far too few, but that made them all the more precious. In a way his own situation was the same as Empress Marianne, a common ascending to royalty but that was what allowed them to become so close. The nobility looked down on them because of the blood in their veins, they even went as far to give Noah a new name 'The Mongrel Prince'. "Noah is one of the few people I still consider family."

"Lelouch there is something I was wondering, the way he introduced him self was different then Princes Cornelia or Euphy."

"How so?"

"He introduced himself as Noah Di Britannia."

"That is his name, what did you find odd about that?"

"Well it's just that Euphy is the third princess Euphemia when she is introduced, and when I first met you they announced you as the eleventh prince. I was just wondering why.."

"Why Noah doesn't have a position as a prince of Britannia? So you don't know." he smiled at Suzaku's expression, it was somewhere between irritated and confused. "The number signifies our claim on the throne, Noah doesn't' have such a claim. Then again our position does not truly matter in the line of succession. The emperor can simply choose based on talent who the next ruler will be. We seem to have gone off topic, I believe you said there was two reasons you were made a Knight."

" Oh right, I guess we did wander of a bit didn't we." The two of them managed to laugh at their own foolishness. " I guess the second reason is that Cornelia is afraid of what might happen with Zero."

"She expects Zero to go after Euphemia and use her as leverage?"

"Worse, she is afraid Zero might kill Euphy, she saw the tape of what happened inside Clovis's command carrier. Zero doesn't seem the type to show mercy if it won't benefit him." While his face never faltered Lelouch's heart raced in his chest. There was a tape of him murdering Prince Clovis; no it was far worse then that. They had a tape of him using his Geass.

"If they have a tape of what happened why haven't they released some photos to identify Zero?" Next to him Suzaku let out a sigh, his head shaking side to side.

"The footage was a damaged when Zero destroyed the command center so what there is can't be used. Worse the system was only set up to record when the PA system was activated so there was little footage to begin with, but one thing did show up clear. The moment Zero murdered Prince Clovis the image cleared; the way his eyes…." Suzaku fell silent a distant look in his eyes. "No one has the right to take an others life, no matter what they've done."

'Naive' while he didn't say it aloud the word dominated his thoughts. If he actually was to be Euphemia's knight he would eventually have to kill some one to protect her. Then there was Cornelia, she would demand that he prove himself in combat first; both inside and out of a knightmare. Knightmare now there was an interesting thought. Royal Knights were normally issued a Gloucester to protect their charges, would that right be extended to Suzaku as well?

"Since they went as far as to make you a knight, did they give you a knightare frame as well?" He felt a twinge of guilt as he asked the question. Suzaku's smile made it clear he believed his friend was changing the subject to something he would find a little more comforting when in reality he was being pumped for information.

"Yeah they did as a matter of fact and you will never believe the frame they gave me to use."

"Cornelia gave you one her Gloucester?" The question came out half-heartedly; it was obvious he believed he would have been stuck with a sutherland. Suzaku only smiled and shook his head. It was clear that he was enjoying one of the few moments in his life that he knew something that his friend didn't.

"Even better" Lelouch froze, at the moment he knew of only one frame in Japan that surpassed the Gloucester. "They are letting me keep the Lancelot!"

"Lancelot?" Was that the name of the machine? Thinking back the way that white head moved was a lot like Suzaku. Straight forward and direct attacks that relied on brute force to accomplish the objective put before it.

"It's this amazing new machine that they're testing. I whish you could see it Lelouch its incredible." Suzaku went on about the Lancelot like a child bragging about a new toy. Most of what was said fell upon deaf ears as Lelouch tried to wrap his mind around this new information. He had come a hairs breath from killing his best friend and neither of them had realized it at the time.

"How did you end up with such a machine? Euphy and Noah probably used up all the power they had just to get you knighted, this Lancelot seems out of their reach."

"Lloyd insisted that I be made the Lancelot's pilot because I'm the only one capable of making it do anything. He said I was the best part for the job." Suzaku smiled as he spoke.

'How can you be so stupid Suzaku? This guy is just using you to raise his own status! He even called you a part in a machine!' With a fake smile Lelouch struggled to bury his rage, how stupid was Suzaku? What the hell was he trying to accomplish?

"I can do it Lelouch. Just a little longer and I'll be able to do it." Staring eye-to-eye Suzaku said the dumbest thing that he had ever heard. "With Euphy and Noah's help I can make the world that Nunnally always talked about! I can do it from within Britannia." Speechless he could only star at his friend as the bell rang in the distance; didn't he understand what the real world was like? Did he forget what happened seven years ago? How they shot him in shinjuku? How could he possibly think that he could change a country that was not only corrupt but founded on the belief of superiority over others?

"That was the warning bell; you should probably get to class" His voice was hollow even with the fake emotion he forced into it. Suzaku kept smiling oblivious to emptiness of his friend's words.

"Yeah it would be bad to late on the first day wouldn't it?" when he reached the door he turned to look over his shoulder. "Lelouch don't you have to get to class too?"

"I have gym this period so I'm going to go check on Nunnally." The fake smile came easily this time while his hand locked into a death grip on the railing.

"Lelouch you really shouldn't skip classes like that" With one last smile he disappeared down the stairs leaving Lelouch alone on the roof top as his mask shattered. The rage boiled over, he lashed out striking the railing with enough force to draw blood.

"_**SUZAKU YOU IDIOT!!"**_

* * *

Every fiber of her being screamed to run after Milly. To chase the idiot down and beat what ever idea she had out of her but she suffered from an unfortunate problem, she was the timid and sickly Kallen Stadfeld such a violent option was out of her reach. Reality was a cruel thing and later when she got her hands on that arrogant bastard Lelouch she was going to show him how cruel the world really was, everything was his fault! Some time during her mental ranting she noticed she was clutching the small pouch that hid her knife, Lelouch had pissed her off more than she thought.

Now that she thought about it where was the fool? She could have used his help in disarming Milly, the embankment she pushed him down wasn't that steep. Or was it that the great Zero was afraid of a mere student council president? For a brief moment the thought brought a smile to her face until she realized she wasn't one to talk. The blond haired devil scared her too. Collapsing into one of the schools countless benches she tried to come at the problem from a different angle.

'If I were Milly how would I use a girlfriend against Lelouch?' It took her less than a second to figure it out when she actually sat down to think about it. There was one way to use '_good news_' of this variety against him. Making sure the area was clear she sprinted towards the clubhouse. There was only one sword and shield to use against Lelouch in this situation, who ever got to Nunnally first was going to win.

Less then a minute later she was inside the clubhouse and on her way to Nunnally's room. She knew the layout almost as well as her own house considering how often she met with Lelouch and Roland here, which in hindsight may be the very reason for the problem they found themselves in now.

The voices on the other side of Nunnally's door made her freeze mid knock, Milly had beat her here. Fear made her back away from the door, if she was caught Milly would have all the proof she needed.

"Kallen-san is that you?" The timid voice beyond the door made her want to scream. How the hell did she hear her? A moment later there was a one man stampede to the door the cause of which was obvious even before the tore was torn open. There stood Milly looking at her in a way that could only be described as leering and with a smile that sent chills down her spine.

"Kallen! Why don't you come in? Nunnally and I were just talking about you."

"You were?" the feigned innocence only made Milly's smile grow wider. Quickly grabbing her arm Milly herded Kallen into the room before she could try to flee. Half way across the room a horrid thought entered her mind. The sudden twitch from Nunnally made it clear she had remberd the same thing based on her previous visits. Silently Kallen began to pray that Nunnally would read the situation and stay silent.

"Ah, Kallen-san didn't Onii-san tell you the last time you visited he would be busy today?" Milly's grip tightened on her shoulder. Kallen could almost swear she felt Milly's excitement growing. '_please Nunnally! Stay quite!!'_

"Yes he did but..."

"Oh, do you want me to deliver an other note for you?" Now Kallen didn't have to imagine it, she could feel the president trembling with excitement. Her mind blanked except for a single thought, '_don't cry Kallen, Don't cry_.'

* * *

Looking up from the papers in his hand Roland gazed at the young man sitting behind the desk. He forced himself to remain silent as he watched the boy he swore his life to sit brooding in silence. Having watched Lelouch grow from a wee babe to the man before him he could easily read his emotions. Something was deeply troubling the boy, something unrelated to the order of the black kinghts do to the lack of the chess board he used in his planing. As much as he wanted to help he knew it was pointless, if he tried to force it Lelouch would withdraw further and make things worse. Lelouch would have to make the first move and start the conversation when ever he was ready.

"Roland?"

"Yes my lord?" He spoke perhaps a little to eagerly, It was unusual for the young master to open up so quickly.

"Never mind, it's nothing important." Hiding his sigh Roland went back to his papers, it was going to be long time before Lelouch tried to breach the subject once more. What the boy needed now was for someone to bring him a problem to immerse himself in, a moment later Kallen was at the door.

"Zero can I speak with you for a second?" Rising, Roland moved to the door and waited for his master to slide his mask into place. At his masters nod he opened the door, quickly standing at attention to one side as Kallen stormed past and dropped into the chair across from Lelouch and waited for him to remove the mask.

"Why Kallen, please come in, have a seat." Roland couldn't help but smile at his masters response to the girl. It was always a good sign when the boy resorted to sarcasm, the smirk he wore was reassuring as well.

Even in a room as small as the one he was in Roland found a way to fade into the background. A moment latter the two continued their conversation as if he had never been there. Kallen squirmed under Lelouch's gaze struggling to find her courage.

"I'm only going to say this once so you better listen carefully" Lelouch propped his head on one hand and motioned for her to continue, his smirk growing at her obvious discomfort. "I'm sorry for pushing you down the hill"

"Thats it? Your not going to apologize for making me use plan B?"

"Like hell I will! You know damn well everything that happened today was your fault!" The comment drew a wince from prince. Roland had to admit the conversation peaked his interest, especially considering it involved something that made Lelouch flinch.

"Whats the damage?"

"Well the worse is yet to come, mainly for you, but for now we have our execution delayed." Roland barely smothered his smile as the prince's eye began to twitch; there was only one person who had that result on him, Milly Ashford. "Although were both still screwed."

"This isn't helping my nerves Kallen. What does Milly have planed?"

"For the moment she's taking a trip to break the news to Shirley slowly"

"That doesn't sound that bad"

"It was the least she could do considering what she has planned." Lelouch buried his face in his hands bracing himself for the worst.

"Do I even want to know?"

"I wish I didn't know"

"Tell me so I can start working on a way to avoid this disaster."

"Thats just it, you can't" That raised the princes eyebrow. "She knows you weakness Lelouch"

"She didn't!" Roland smiled at the prince's panicked expression.

"She did, she already told Nunnally about it and she seems really excited about it. She even went to help break the news to Shirley." Lelouch wilted in the chair, that one move guaranteed his defeat. As angry as he was for Milly taking Nunnally on the trip without his permission he couldn't get revenge without upsetting his sister. A perfect attack and defense when it came to the prince.

"Roland why didn't you tell me Milly already got to Nunnally?"

"I'm sorry My lord, but they insisted I keep it a secret from you." The princes blank stare made it clear that answer was not good enough. Perhaps it was time to follow Lady Ashford's example and hit below the belt. "It has been some time since I've seen lady Nunnally so excited, and with miss Ashford around to watch over her I believed it would cause no harm to allow her to go." While it was clear that the prince was standing on his last legs it was not Roland who landed the killing blow.

"You can't be to hard on him Lelouch, If he had said no Nunnally would have asked you herself and even I know that she has you wrapped around her little finger. You would have caved after thirty seconds." Kallen's argument was quick, merciless and precise, he expected no less from the woman who had managed to capture the prince's heart, even if the fool had yet to realize that fact himself. Appearing to accept his defeat the prince moved on to the other problem at hand.

"What kind of event does she have planed?"The thought must have been to much for the girl because she collapsed on the desk burying her face in her arms, her previous confidence gone.

"To announce to the world that we are a couple the next school event will be our wedding"

Before Roland could burst into laughter at the prince's expression the door smashed open to reveal a terrified Charlotte too distressed to talk. Behind her stood Alastor who said what would become the second most horrible thing Roland would ever hear, the first being the death of Empress Mari-Anne.

"The JLF has taken hostages at Lake Kawaguchi, they have princess Nunnally."

* * *

_My bad for being so late with an update. Just got to say Mid-terms suck and that extends to mid-term projects as well._

_Since I've only briefly mentioned the rounds I've created for my fic I thought I should post a short bio for the time being, a more complete version will be told in the story later on._

_**Roland el Grigman** aka "the maelstrom of Britannia" age 47_

_Former Knight of 6 – Pronounced dead during invasion of Japan_

_From his connections with the Ashford family Roland quickly climbed the ranks until his skill earned him a position as a rounds. While possessing skills that surpass the average soldier he was not talented enough to be made round based on combat ability alone. His true talent lay in creating soldiers of rounds caliber. His appointment to rounds was made solely to give him total control of his own training program which has since become the core of Britannia's special forces. With 15 students made candidates for rounds and 4 of those actually knighted his appointment was never questioned. Charlotte and Alastor were among his last students prior to his 'death' during the invasion of Japan. A constant figure in Lelouch's past he has raised the young prince as he would his own son, at the princes request he has also trained him as he would a potential round instilling the basics of command, tactics, piloting and marksmanship; skills which the prince quickly mastered beyond his own skill level._

_**Charlotte Maxwell **aka "The Mad Hatter" age 27_

_Former Knight of 2 – Stripped of title and cast into exile_

_At the time of her appointment she held the distinction of youngest rounds ever, she also holds the title of only rounds ever to be stripped of the position after making the same request as Lelouch, although far less gracefully. A demolition expert by trade she soon became one of the empires most skilled knightmare pilots after being introduced to empress Mari-Anne by Roland. The two quickly became close friends often tormenting those around them in ways that would give Milly a run for her money. Alastor and Roland were and still are favored targets._

_**Alastor Grave** Age 30_

_Former Knight of 5 – AWOL after Knight of 2 dismissal _

_Alastor has one of the most pristine combat records recorded in the history of the empire for the simple reason that almost every operation he ever took part in is still classified beyond top secret. While he posses no alias as most knights do it is not do to the lack of skill it is simply that no enemy to ever see him lived long enough to make a report; While favoring close combat his skill with throwing blades easily puts Bradley to shame. Preferring silence for more then just combat reasons he suffers from a wound that causes him pain when ever he speaks. For this reason he only speaks when something important must be said, or to stay the wrath of Charlotte._


End file.
